The Disappearance
by wowfuckthis
Summary: Alfred has gone missing, leaving his states to deal with his absence. Little do the know that there is more to his disappearance than meets the eye. Can they handle running a country without him or will they eventually succumb to chaos? Rated for language
1. Where's Alfred?

**Author's Notes: New story here. It'll be mostly state centered but they'll be plenty of other stuff going on. I'll warn you now, this is not going to be a funny, happy story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia.**

**Washington DC (Cassandra "Casey" Jones) and Quebec (Alec) belong to wonderful the RubberChi. **

**Caroline "Massachusetts" Jones belongs to the awesome HaniChanTwili. **

**I own Colorado and Pennsylvania though! Mwhahahaha! Not the actual states but you get the point.

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Cassandra Jones was not in a good mood. It was two in the afternoon and her father had yet to come out of his room. She glared at the clock on the wall, as if blaming it for her father's absence. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't gotten so absorbed in her work that she had began doing his work.

Then again, she shouldn't have been surprised. She was often called a "workaholic" by the states. Once she got started on paperwork it was nearly impossible to stop her. Unlike the other Jones children, she actually enjoyed paperwork. It required all of one's focus, leaving little room for the mind to wander; hers had a nasty habit of doing that lately.

It wouldn't be that bad if her mind didn't wander to her currently estranged boyfriend, the Canadian province of Quebec. It had been quite scandalous for the capital of The United States of America to start dating and dating a Canadian, no less. Alfred had been thoroughly shocked and predictably protective upon hearing the news. Eventually he had warmed up to the concept and started to support their relationship. However, after recent events, he had shown nothing but contempt toward the province.

Casey would be lying if she hadn't felt the same way after discovering what Alec had been up to. Less than one month ago Louisiana had come to her, bragging about how he had "hooked up" with some "hot Canadian". At first Casey had thought nothing of it; after all, there were many Canadians out there and Alec was a faithful boyfriend. She had resisted the urge to gloat about her own "hot Canadian" but for the time being she had been told to keep their relationship under wraps.

Life had gone on. There was work to be done and the blonde haired city had pushed thoughts of Louisiana's night nighttime activities to the back of her mind. Then that fateful day had come; her father had received a letter from Quebec confessing that he had gotten drunk one night and done some "stupid things" with Louisiana. This had come as a shock to Casey, Alfred, and Louisiana, who couldn't even remember who had spent that fateful night with (only knowing that they were Canadian).

So, due to the turn of events, Casey was at odds with Alec. The two shared brief, curt conversations on the phone but that was it. For once she was grateful for the miles between them. She felt worse for Damien than anyone else, including herself. The poor state had been apologizing non stop since they had found out the news. Not only that but now everyone knew his sexual orientation, something he had been trying to keep a secret until he was ready to tell their father.

Neither she nor Alfred was mad at Damien; he had no prior knowledge of Casey and Alec's relationship and had assumed his partner for the night would remain nothing but a dim memory. Still, everyday he would send her apology notes and flowers, begging for forgiveness that he had already been given.

Alec was a completely different story. Casey didn't tolerate mistakes, drunken or not. Alfred had tried to convince her numerous times to end the relationship but she couldn't. Although she didn't like mistakes, she had made many in her lifetime. Alec had been nothing but good to her from the beginning of their relationship and she didn't want to lose someone like that because of one little thing. It was obvious Alec had no feelings toward Damien so surely they could continue with their relationship as if nothing had happened. It had hurt though; it was always painful to realize that maybe you weren't enough for the one person who completed your life. So for now, things would stay the way they were.

Casey shook herself out of her musings and offered another glance toward the clock. It was now two thirty, she had wasted half an hour on her little pity party. Sighing, she stood from her desk and made her way down the hallway toward Alfred's room.

Upon reaching the mahogany door she knocked lightly. Occasionally the personification of America preferred to do his work in his room rather than in the "work room". After going a few moments without hearing a response, Casey turned the handle of the door and pushed it open slowly. Once inside she was met with, what appeared to be, a disaster zone. The mess shared an uncanny resemblance to the houses she saw on television that had been destroyed by tornadoes.

There were wrappers and pizza boxes everywhere, accompanied by piles of clothing and who knows what else. To her right, pushed up against the wall, was a dresser. Clothes overflowed out of its open drawers and the top of it was decorated with the odd trinkets Alfred had picked up along his lifetime. Casey rubbed her temples and frowned. That man was going to get an earful once he was awake.

She glanced toward the bed and, much to her dismay, noticed it was missing the expected sleeping form. The blankets were jumbled together proving that her father had spent the night in the bed but, for whatever reason, he as no longer there. The curtains from the open window billowed from the cool, spring breeze. So that had been his escape. Alfred was always coming up with creative ways to get out of working, so she wouldn't be surprised if he had snuck out through the window earlier that day.

She walked over to the window, taking care with where she placed her feet. She reached forward to shut it when something caught her eye; the screen, which acted as protection from mosquitoes and other annoying, buzzing things, was still in place. America could be quite bright when he wanted to but he wouldn't have been smart enough to remember to replace the screen. Of course, she also took into consideration that the distance of the ground from the window was two stories down, providing no possible way to replace the screen once it was removed.

She took a moment to ponder the situation.

Perhaps he had used a ladder rather than just jumping down. As reasonable as that sounded to her logical mind she knew the lazy man would never go to that much trouble to get out of a day's worth of work. He could have been working with someone else who had replaced the screen from the inside once he had gotten outside. Surely she would have noticed that though. She had been home all morning and hadn't seen anyone come in or out of the room.

There was the blatantly obvious possibility that he had just snuck out the front door late last night but she dismissed that idea as well. Alfred tended to get a little cranky if he didn't get his beauty rest. He would never give up the chance to have as much sleep as possible.

Realizing that wondering how her father had escaped was not going to help her find him, Casey turned on her heel and navigated her way out of the room. The best thing to do right now was to locate him. She was thankful that no one in her family could keep a secret for long, meaning that if Alfred was out with one of the states one of them was bound to know about it. She sat down at her desk once again and began to type up an email asking if anyone happened to know the whereabouts of Alfred F. Jones. She sent it off to all of the states as well as her father's brother, Canada. That covered pretty much all the bases.

She briefly considered contacting Arthur to see if he knew anything about where Alfred had gotten to but decided against it. A trip to England's house was much too long to be made right now and even if America was planning on going to the British man's house there was no way he could be there already.

Casey got back to work on her paperwork, flying through proposed bills, documents explaining the economy and spending rates of the government, and papers detailing the president's plans for the next month. It wasn't anything too interesting but it kept her preoccupied for the next hour and a half.

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At around four thirty Washington DC began to organize the mess of papers across her desk, she was finally done for the day. She glanced toward her laptop, noticing that she had a few new emails. She opened the window, reading each email silently.

**From: Caroline "Massachusetts" Jones **

**To: Cassandra Jones **

**Re: Where's Dad?**

**Hey Casey, **

**I haven't seen Daddy today. Did he try to get out of working again? Silly guy! I'm sure he'll show up soon, you know how he hates to miss out on dinner! **

**Love,  
Caroline **

**From: Christopher "Pennsylvania" Jones **

**To: Cassandra Jones **

**Re: Where's Dad?**

**Hey Case, **

**Haven't seen dad around today but I can tell you he isn't with Delaware or Virginia. The three of us have been fishing all day. We'll keep an eye out for him though. **

**Sincerely, **

**Chris**

**From: Kyle "Colorado" Jones **

**To: Cassandra Jones **

**Re: Where's Dad? **

**Sup sis? **

**Haven't f**king seen Dad in forever. Wyoming, Montana and I have been skiing all day. There's still snow on the damn mountains! If we see him we'll send his a** your way. **

**From,**

**Mr. Sexy **

Casey smirked at the last email; Colorado was a ball of wild energy with a mouth dirtier than the sewers of New York and an ego the size of Alaska. Pennsylvania was more serious, though not as serious as Delaware, and Massachusetts, although she was the sixth oldest state, had the heart of a five year old. None of their emails had been any more helpful. She skimped through the next few emails, all from the states. They all said the same thing: No one had seen Alfred all day. Not even her Uncle Matt had seen him.

She frowned, wondering where he could have gotten to. If he was going to leave the country he usually left some kind of warning, a letter or an email. At the very least she got a text message explaining his absence.

At this thought she laughed at her stupidity. How could she not have considered calling him? That should have been the first thing she thought of doing. Slipping her phone out of her pocket, Casey began to dial the familiar number. She held the phone up to her face, tapping her foot impatiently as the phone on the other end rang. Finally, Alfred picked up.

"Hello?"

"Dad! Finally I thought—

"Hellooo? Anyone there?"

"Dad? Can you hear me? I've been wo—

"Haha! Just kidding! I'm not here right now 'cause I'm doing something heroic but leave me a message and I'll get back to ya as soon as possible!"

Letting out a groan, Casey waited for the telltale "beep" to let her know when to leave her message.

"Hey, this is Casey. I don't know where you are but you shouldn't run off like this without telling anyone. Let me know where you are as soon as possible."

She hung up after her leaving her message, realizing there was not much more she could do at this point. Knowing her father, he was probably off playing on the children's jungle gym in McDonalds and had conveniently put his phone on silent. She wasn't all that worried though.

Alfred had done this before in the past and he always showed up later that night wearing a big grin. She understood his need to de-stress, especially considering the events going on lately. The oil spill had kept him up many nights, trying in vain to think up a way to stop the spill as soon as possible. There was also the constant nagging of the war in the Middle East and troubling economy that had been wreaking havoc on the man.

She'd leave him alone for the time being. It was never fun to be around Alfred when he was stressed. His usual grin was strained and he lost the cheeky spark in his eye. A few days wouldn't hurt anyone. She could hold the fort down until he got back Casey thought as she cleaned up her things and made her way toward her room. She put everything away in its proper place before heading toward the kitchen

After a simple meal and some late night television Casey made her way to bed. She was still mildly concerned by the lack of her father's presence but reminded herself how she was letting him off the hook this time.

Little did she know that her father's location was much more troubling than her original assumptions.

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**AN: So there you are. First chapter. More appearances from the states later but for now, this is all ya get. **


	2. Kidnapped

**Author's Notes: I just want to apologize for the terrible editing in the last chapter. I went back and fixed most of it. **

**If you're not going to reread it (it's really not necessary) then you should know that when I wrote "Canadian Province of Canada" I meant "Canadian Province of Quebec". **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Ohio (who is mentioned briefly) belongs to Sesshy's Girl 00. **

_**Italics = dreaming! **_

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_Alfred was running. He didn't know where exactly but he knew he had to run. Just keep moving forward. There was something there, just out of his grasp. _

_Without warning his foot caught on something and he fell, slamming down onto the hot pavement. It was so hot out. He looked around at his surroundings. He had been running down a long, highway. There were no cars and he was seemingly surrounded by desert. _

_Then he saw it. _

_It was what he had been chasing after this whole time. A giant, delicious hamburger. For some reason it had arms and legs but no head. It waved at him…did the hamburger just…giggle? What kind of burger giggled? _

_He jumped off the ground and ran towards the hamburger. No matter how close he got it was always the same distance away from him. He reached his hands forward, grasping at air. _

_Suddenly the burger changed form; now it was his Gulf States. They were all covered in oil; save for the few clean streaks on their faces formed by the tears that continually ran from their eyes. _

"_Help us Daddy! Please! Help me!" screamed Florida as the oil burned her skin. She extended her arm, begging him to take hold of her hand. _

_He ran and ran but he was so tired and they continued to get farther and farther away. He gritted his teeth and poured what was left of his energy into reaching them. He sped forward, finally reaching the point where they were standing. _

_Just when he was about to grasp Florida's hand, they all disappeared. He was too late for them. _

_He was always too late. _

Alfred snuck a glance at his surroundings, glad he had shut his curtains the night before. His room was dim yet it seemed off in some way. He shut his eyes again, not ready to be awake yet. His throat was sore and dry and his body ached as if he had slept on the floor the whole night. He wondered if he had fallen asleep in his reading chair again. The American wasn't normally a big reader but Ohio loved to write little short stories and he was more than happy to read them. The girl certainly had a way with words.

He sat up, still keeping his blue eyes shut. He leaned back but instead of feeling the back of his chair he felt cold, hard wall. So he had fallen asleep on the floor. Although it was spring he was surprised by how cool the wall felt. Alfred adjusted himself, and tried to stretch out his arm, hoping the action would pop his back and relieve some of the pain. Oddly enough, he couldn't move his arm. Something was wrong here.

America's eyes popped open as he truly took in his surroundings. He was definitely not in his room. The walls surrounding him were made of some metal with a dull grey color. Ten feet above him was a small window with bars. A few stray bands of sunlight filtered in, providing the room with some light. He looked down and his arms and noticed they were in what appeared to be handcuffs. They were much thicker than normal handcuffs and instead of being held together by a thin, metal chain they were fused together by a heavy bar.

Although the situation looked grim, Alfred smirked. Whoever had set this up clearly didn't know about his monstrous strength. He began to move his right arm up while keeping his left hand completely still in an attempt to bend the bar.

"I would give up if I were you." said a quiet voice from the corner.

Alfred looked up is surprise. He hadn't noticed someone else was in the room with him. Standing in the corner closest to the door was a person. They wore dark, loose fitting clothing and a dark ski cap over their face.

"You obviously don't realize what I can do here!" he replied smugly.

"Oh no, Mr. Jones. You'll find I know exactly what you can do. In fact, I know quite a lot about you." The stranger respond, a haughty smile growing on his lips, accentuating his hard to place accent.

Alfred gaped at the stranger before his twisted in anger.

"Then you know I'll be able to break out of these no problem!" he growled out, his voice rising in volume.

"As I said earlier, I know much more about you than you think. Those restraints are made out of one of the strongest metals known to mankind. It's Inconel 625."

"But that…that's what we…what we use for…" he couldn't continue. The metal around his wrists was not only incredibly strong but it was also very expensive. It was very hard to get your hands on. Whoever he was dealing with here was obviously extremely rich and also had good connections.

"That's right Mr. Jones. It's what you use in your spaceships. What purpose does it serve on the spacecrafts?

"You…you use it as a high strength fastener on the critical joints of a spaceship." Alfred mumbled out, dumbfounded by how this person had managed to get a hold on such a valuable metal.

"And why would you use this particular metal?"

"Because it is resistant to force and temperature. Once it hardens it is very hard to shape or melt."

"Very good! It seems you aren't as stupid as you look."

Alfred only glared at the stranger. Anger was coursing through his body. He wasn't used to feeling this hopeless. He was Alfred F. Jones, the United States of America, he didn't do helpless situations. He was the hero.

"Now I'm sure you're wondering about how you got here" the stranger continued, "so I'll tell you. You have been kidnapped. For what purpose I am not sure but I know the boss has something good planned for you."

"Wait? You're not the one in charge here?"

"Me? Oh heavens no! I'm just an underling. Mind you, I'm more important than some of the other guys. After all, I was allowed the honor of talking to you."

Alfred snorted. He considered the situation. He had been kidnapped by an unknown party. Said party was not working alone and clearly had many people working under them. He wasn't sure as to how he had gotten in the small room. Judging by his sore throat he suspected chloroform. It would explain how he had been transported to this cell without waking up. Alfred was a heavy sleeper but even he would wake up if someone started manhandling him. The motive for all this was still unclear.

"As I was saying. We have transported you out of the United States. I can not reveal exactly where you are but I can assure you it is far from your beloved country. Quiz time! What happens to the personification of a country if he is away from his country for too long?"

"The personification…he'll get weak. His country will suffer from his absence. You're not…you can't really be planning on doing that! It can take months before you'll see those affects!" he exclaimed.

This person couldn't be another country. It was an unwritten law that no personification be gone from his country for more than three months. It was painful on the personification and the country. If they were away for too long wars could break out within their country. If there was one thing that they all respected, it was that fact.

"Correct! And I can't say if that is or isn't what we're planning. As I said before, I'm only an underling. I don't get told everything that is to come."

Alfred bit his lip, fighting off tears. He wasn't worried for himself as much as he was for his states. Although they wouldn't feel any physical pain from his absence they would have to deal with the trouble that came from it. They were still young. If he was away for too long they would start to fight with each other over everything. Having to deal with him missing would not help this situation.

"I thought you were the hero. Is the hero that afraid of the pain?" gloated the stranger.

"I have never feared pain." he snarled.

"Then why the tears? Are you worried about you states? I would be, if I were you."

"Why are you doing this?" Alfred choked out.

It's all a matter of power." the man taunted in his odd accent.

Alfred watched in horror as the stranger exited the room through the door. It slammed shut with a bang and was followed by the audible sound of a bolt being locked. A slit opened in the middle of the door. Before Alfred could get a peek at what lay beyond his small room he saw the man's eyes.

"Oh, and by the way, don't try to break down the doors or walls either. They're made of the same metal that makes up your restraints."

The eyes disappeared and were replaced with what looked like a water bottle. It was forced through the slit, trailed by a couple apples.

Alfred cursed and stood up from his spot. He swung his joined arms at the door as hard as he could. They hit with a satisfying smash but unfortunately left little more than a scratch to prove any damage had been done at all. He continued to wave his arms around, crashing into whatever was in their path. It did nothing though.

He dropped to the floor, panting from the sudden exertion of energy. He reached for the bottle, uncapping it and gulping down as much water he could get down his dry throat. After finishing off the water he demolished the apples, not realizing how hungry he had been. The two red fruits didn't fill the void in his stomach but they helped.

Alfred lay on his back, staring up at the grim ceiling above him. It was now that he realized he didn't have his glasses. He had taken them off and thrown them on the floor somewhere before rolling into bed the night before. Well, he assumed it was the night before. He had no idea how much time had passed since he had gotten here.

He was scared. His states would have no idea what was going on and he knew what was coming their way. Chaos and confusion. They may not actually be his children but he saw them as just that. They all had something special about them. His eyes felt heavy and they slowly shut. There must have been something in the water, he had just been waking up and now…now he was slipping away again. He focused on his states, sending wishes for their protection before the blackness took over his mind.

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**AN: So I got the stuff about Inconel 625 off the internet. Sorry if it's incorrect. **

**Big clue in this chapter as to who has kidnapped Al. Can you find it? **

**Any guesses about who it is? It may or may not be a country that hasn't been personified yet. ;) I'm not going to tell you for a few more chapters. **

**BTW, constructive criticism is much appreciated. Anything you can tell me about my writing style or how I can improve would be really helpful.  
**


	3. Revelation

**Author's Notes! Ahhh! So sorry! I posted "The Original Thirteen" before I wanted to! It was an accident, this chapter was supposed to come first. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia.

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The tall man stared at the screen before him. He watched as his prisoner tried to destroy the room he was being held in. Such a foolish man, didn't he understand that there was no escape? He smiled softly at the screen, thoroughly entertained. Without warning, Alfred dropped to the ground and grabbed the water bottle he had been supplied with so graciously. Unfortunately for the American, the water had been laced. Alfred wolfed down the apples before falling asleep, just as planned.

Suddenly, the door to his observation room swung open and in walked one of the men working for him. He pulled off his ski mask to reveal short, dark hair and dull, brown eyes. His tan face looked tired.

"So boss…are we good now?" the short man asked timidly.

"Good? Hmmm…possibly."

The man gulped and started to back track toward the door. His boss advanced toward him until the man was pressed against the door. The loftier of the two smiled, gripping the man's shoulder tightly.

"Please! I said I was sorry! It was an accident! I want to help you!"

"Well Mr. Cirrus, you should have thought of that earlier when you were telling your dear sister about this little operation of ours." He replied, smile still on his face.

"I told her not to tell anyone." he murmured.

"Yes but now she will have to get involved. You will tell her this or your lives will end rather abruptly."

"If I let you kill me now, will you leave her alone?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You're messed up! There's something twisted in that mind of yours."

This angered the tall man. He withdrew a knife from his pocket and placed it against Cirrus's neck, his smile now gone from his face.

"Twisted? I suppose I am. Now, you will go and tell your sister about her new job, understand?" He pressed the knife against the man's neck, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Yes, I…I understand" he said, admitting defeat.

"Good! I am glad we are in an understanding!" The smile was back and the knife was stowed away in the man's pocket yet again.

The boss stared as Cirrus scurried out the door. It was unfortunate that he had to drag another country into this operation but sacrifices had to be made. He had only employed a few countries to help him with his plan; countries he knew wouldn't have a problem with his plans. There were many countries that would have been willing to help out with the kidnapping but not so many would be keen on assisting him in what was to come.

It was such a well thought out plan. He was almost frightened to think of it sometimes, afraid his thoughts might somehow cause everything to go wrong. So far, everything had gone according to plan. He had predicted Alfred's temper tantrum. He could scarcely wait until the man woke up and he could finally reveal himself. As far as he could tell, America had no idea who had taken him but that wouldn't last for much longer. It would only be a few more hours until he awakened and that's when the fun started.

He would tell Alfred exactly what his plan was and watch as that beautiful look of horror and defiance would grace the American's features. Oh yes, it would be a wonderful sight. Then he would listen to the man's empty threats as he struggled against his restraints. Next would come the pleading. This was his favorite part. Alfred would beg to be let go, sharing as many reasons he could think of pertaining to why he should be let go. When his words fell on def ears he would revert back to his threats. And that would be when he was drugged yet again. He wouldn't be very intimidating so his threats would become quite a bore.

Unlike many, Alfred probably wouldn't offer to compromise. It was his way or the highway. The boss knew that he there was only one compromise he was offering and there was no way the proud man would accept his offer. This made him sad but he knew that America was destined to comply with is plans. That was the point; if Alfred did accept his offer early on then things would be over quickly; if he did not, it was only a matter of time before the man could just take what he wanted.

He had thought over every possibility, every flaw that could occur, but either way the ending was the same. He would get what he wanted. It was a fortunate thing he was a patient man. It had been far too many years since he'd gotten what he wanted.

He pulled back the sleeve of his shirt, revealing his watch. It was still too early to attempt to converse with his prisoner. Sighing he made his way out of the observation room and down the hall. He opened a door that lead to a mostly empty room. In the middle of the room were a desk and a chair. A simple computer sat atop the desk. He seated himself in front of the computer but instead of using it, pushed it to the side. His hands found a drawer on his right and he slid it open. Inside the drawer was a neat stack of documents.

He pulled them out, sighing. Paperwork was never enjoyable. There was no point that he could see in him overlooking everything. The men in charge of him had never listened to his warnings or suggestions. They did whatever they _thought_ was right despite the fact that he _knew _what was best. It was the way of men to assume they knew best, even if they didn't.

He knew that many nations suffered this same problem, America included. He was sure it was rare though. Alfred supported whatever his government did, he was too proud not to. Still, he had seen it at their meetings. His cheerful smile would seem forced when he explained some new legislature that had been passed by his government. For the most part though, it seemed like his government listened to him.

He continued working his way through the documents, not really paying attention to the words scattered over the pages. One paper did catch his interest. It was a reminder about the meeting he was supposed to have with Alfred in a few days. He knew better though; he would show up for the meeting but Alfred wouldn't. He had chosen to keep his little idea to himself, deciding against telling his government who would no doubt be against it.

It would certainly be an interesting meeting. He wondered how the states were going to cover for their missing father. They would probably say he was sick or out of town. He couldn't wait to see the worried, desperate looks on their faces. He was sure they wouldn't actually tell anyone about their father's absence. It would leave them quite vulnerable to outside attacks. A country needed its personification to remain strong. It was that rule of nature which he was relying on so heavily. If for some reason Alfred and his country did not get weaker then his whole plan would not work.

Time trickled by slowly as he made his way through the large stack of papers. It was almost time. He stood from his desk, exited the room, and made his way toward the room holding Alfred. Although it was a little early, he had some preparations to get through.

He inserted a key into the lock on the door and pulled it open. There he was, Alfred, sound asleep. He had moved in his sleep, his face now pushed against the ground. The tall man marveled at how different he looked without his glasses. His plan would have gone much easier if America had been wearing his glasses since he could use Texas to his advantage but it was no matter.

His footsteps echoed around the room as he neared the sleeping form. He lifted Alfred up and forced him into a sitting position against the wall. He pulled out another key and inserted it into a hidden lock on the restraints. They popped in half and came off easily though they left angry red marks around America's wrist.

Grabbing Alfred's left wrist, he unlocked a restraint on the wall and clamped it down around his hand. He repeated the same action with the right arm. After seeing the amazing display of strength earlier, he didn't want to risk being in the path of one of those furious blows. Now all that was left to do was wait.

He sat down in front of his prisoner, smiling. He reached forward to brush a few hairs out of his face before running his gloved hand down the man's face. Alfred leaned away from the contact, and began to stir. He opened his blue eyes blearily. He looked at the man before him, confusion all over his face.

After a few moments his gaze focused and his eyes widened. He was clearly surprised at who his captor was. He made to move his arms but was met by the resistance of the restraints. His eyes narrowed and his mouth turned into a snarl as he let out a growl.

"You!"

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**AN: Another big clue for all y'all! Did you see this one as well? **

**I'm sure you've all figured out who the bad guy is…or you think you have. I'm actually torn between two different "people" at this point. It could still go either way. **


	4. The Original Thirteen

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Casey "Washington DC" belongs to RubberChi. **

**Elizabeth "Connecticut" belongs to Connecticut. **

**Caroline "Massachusetts" belongs to HaniChanTwili**

**Darcy "Georgia" belongs to Kendall N.S. **

**Anthony "New Jersey" belongs to Not So L33t **

**Savannah "North Carolina" belongs to elektraeriseros. **

**Dan "Maine" (mentioned briefly) belongs to Capt. Hasting. **

**And I forgot this in the first chapter: Damien "Louisiana" belongs to Arashikun**

**Michael "New York" partly belongs to Yori Mei. I changed New York's gender and name but his personality will be based off that of her OC Crystal "New York". **

**New Hampshire = William**

**Delaware = Robert **

**Pennsylvania = Christopher

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New Hampshire stared at his reflection in the mirror, running his fingers through the black hair atop his head. Normally he never worried about his looks this much but today he and the other Originals had been called to Alfred and Washington DC's house for an important meeting. He had no idea what this meeting entailed but whenever the thirteen of them were asked to appear somewhere together it was always a competition. Who could look the most professional, who could come up with the best ideas, etc.

Giving his reflection one last look over, the blue eyed state exited the bathroom and made his way toward the meeting room. As he walked in he wasn't surprised to see Delaware and Pennsylvania were already there. They were always the first to show up, claiming it was just a coincidence.

The two of them liked to act like they were above the competition between them all but everyone knew they weren't. Being the first and second states, they always felt the need to act much more mature than everyone else. Robert was the only one who actually seemed that mature though; Christopher's personality was more similar to their father's than he'd like to admit.

Now, however, the two were talking quietly while skimming a document that sat in front of them. They must have brought it with them because there were no other papers placed on the table. That in itself was odd, usually Washington DC typed up an informative letter detailing what the meeting was to cover.

William cleared his throat, causing Robert and Christopher to look up. The younger of the two's face broke into a grin and he motioned him over. Christopher had an eerie resemblance to Alfred. He shared the man's hair color, bright blue eyes, and charming grin. Many times in the past he had filled in for Alfred when he hadn't been around, only needing glasses to complete his look. He could no longer do that having recently cut his hair quite short for the upcoming summer weather. Instead of letting it go all over the place he had cut it short on the sides while leaving it a little longer on top.

Robert also glanced up from the document and smiled at New Hampshire. The smile didn't reach his green eyes though, which always appeared cold. It took a lot to make the oldest state really show any emotion. His brown hair was parted on the right and brushed to the side. A few stray hairs hung over his forehead which he impatiently brushed aside.

"Will! Good to see ya. Come sit." Chris said happily, reminding him yet again of Alfred.

He took a seat next to the eager state, glimpsing at the paper in Robert's hands.

"What you boys got there?" he asked, gesturing to the paper which, upon closer inspection, looked rather old.

"I found it in my basement! I think it's one of those Silence Dogood letters Benny Franklin wrote but Robby here thinks it's a fake."

"It is a fake. We have all the Silence Dogood letters. And is it really necessary to change my name to "Robby"? I've told it's Robert or Rob. No exceptions."

"Way to be a stick in the mud! You sound just like that stuffy Brit across the pond."

"I am nothing like that man."

New Hampshire was tempted to mention their shared eye color but new better than to get involved in the argument. They acted like good friends but there was always a little rivalry between the two. Delaware was very proud about being the first one to attain statehood and it bothered him to no end that Pennsylvania had been given statehood just four days later.

"Hey Will, you think Delaware is like England, right?"

"Don't drag me into this. Oh look! It's Massachusetts. Hi Massachusetts!" he shouted at the blonde state that had just entered the room, her arm laced through Connecticut's.

"Will, Rob, Chris! Hi!" Caroline chirped cheerfully, waving eagerly with her free hand.

She had once been a very serious state, sharing the same unfeeling eyes as Delaware. The two of them had been a powerhouse of order and regulations.

Everything had changed after the Civil War. Massachusetts seemed to realize that there was more to life than following the rules. Her demeanor had changed completely as she had let go of her hard personality and let her inner child out. Like most of the original thirteen, she had been forced to grow up quickly with the beginning of the Revolutionary War. She seemed to be the once to grow up the fastest, becoming a threat the British were unnerved by. Caroline, who had gone by her first given name, Salem, then, had scared many of the states during that time.

Now she was the friendliest state out of them all, rivaled only by California. She dragged her brown haired companion over to New Hampshire, plopping down in the chair next to him. She turned and grinned at him, her own Nantucket sticking out on the right side of her head. William couldn't help but smile back, her smile was contagious.

"How ya been guys?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I'm glad you're here, Care! Guess what I found!"

"Oooh! Ooh! I know! A ghost eating a hamburger!"

"Uh…no." Pennsylvania replied, a puzzled look on his face. "Better than that!"

"I don't know! Tell me!"

"A letter from Silence Dogood!"

"Seriously? Yay! Ben was a good human, I wanna read the letter!" she squealed.

"You can read it if you want but I'll tell you right now, it's a fake." Delaware cut in with an annoyed tone. He never had gotten used to Caroline's sudden personality change. He would probably never admit it but New Hampshire could tell he missed the old Massachusetts.

"Oh. Really?" Through her glasses New Hampshire could see disappointment cloud her green eyes.

"Don't listen to him! I know Benny's writing as well as you do! We can confirm it ourselves." Pennsylvania said hastily, no one liked to see Massachusetts get upset. Depending on the topic she could either start crying or revert back to her old self. Neither possibility was easy to handle.

"Ok! Let's look at it!" Her mouth pulled into its usual smile as she and Christopher began to read over the document. Both were rather fond of the founding father seeing as he had been born in Caroline's state and had been a popular political figure in Christopher's. Rather than fight over him like many of New Hampshire's siblings did when it came to prominent people in history, the two would spend hours telling stories and recalling all his wonderful qualities together.

Within the next ten minutes the rest of the Originals trickled in, aside from New Jersey. He was always running late. Unlike the rest of them he seemed completely oblivious to their rivalry. He would always show up late and was never dressed professionally, preferring jeans, a t-shirt, and his backpack in place of a briefcase.

Connecticut rolled her green eyes and began to drum her fingers on the table impatiently.

"Is that really necessary?" William asked, trying to keep his own frustration out of his voice.

"No, I'm doing it just to bother you, Will." Elizabeth answered back sarcastically.

"Appreciate it." he muttered before turning his attention to the rest of his siblings, all sitting around the long, rectangular table. Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina all sat together, arguing about something.

The three of them often argued over the Civil War which North Carolina felt she had been dragged into. Savannah was very adamant about how she had gotten over it but Georgia and South Carolina still liked to bother her about it. North Carolina had a bad temper and the states were always trying to see who could bother her the most before she snapped. So far Colorado held the shortest record (thirty seconds) while Vermont and Massachusetts tied with three hours. That wasn't surprising considering Massachusetts was ball of sunshine and it was near impossible to get mad at Vermont. Charlotte had spent much of her childhood with Canada and, consequently, was very soft spoken and, for the most part, and kindred spirit.

Nearest the arguing trio were Rhode Island and Pennsylvania who were watching New York and Massachusetts have a "heated discussion" over baseball. Connecticut, who supported both teams, was trying to stay as far out of that argument as possible. Unfortunately this didn't seem to be working as Caroline would continually drag Elizabeth back into the argument. Michael also seemed to support this, hoping to win Connecticut's favor in their argument.

On William's right were Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. All three seemed to be watching the scene before them with interest. Delaware looked predictably irritated while Maryland and Virginia just looked amused. The two of them had been best friends since the very beginning, despite Virginia siding with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Delaware gritted his teeth and stared at the states with his chilling gaze. Slowly everyone began to look his way, all feeling his eyes upon them. It wasn't something one could ignore easily.

"Is this really how we should be acting? We are the oldest states. Shouldn't we be acting accordingly? You are all a big disap—

He was interrupted as the meeting room door swung open with a bang.

"The PARTAY has arrived! Please hold your applause!" New Jersey waltzed in, pushing his sunglasses off his face and into his unruly brown hair, revealing his blue eyes. He had on loose fitting jeans that revealed checkered boxers. On top he wore a plain white shirt with a red zip up sweat shirt.

"Tony, you're orange." Connecticut said blankly.

"No I'm not, Lizzie! I'm just preparing to hit the Shore! Don't wanna get a burn, ya know?"

"No. No I don't know."

New Hampshire smiled, enjoying his brother's loud personality. He envied him. He'd love to be that uncaring about what others thought of him. Anthony was always carefree, getting all the fun out of life he could. Delaware, on the other hand, looked about ready to throttle the tanned state, his mouth pulled into a frown.

"Anthony, you need to be on time. Your late appearances are doing nothing for your less than positive image."

Tony's eyes flashed dangerously before he smiled again. Usually he got very angry when people brought up his reputation, based only on stereotypes; however, he had a lot of patience for Robert. He seemed to understand the oldest state's serious personality and had a lot of respect for him. Much like Pennsylvania, he saw Delaware as his equal rather than an older brother. Despite his laid back and sometimes childish personality, the third oldest state could display a reasonable amount of maturity when he wanted to.

"Sorry, Robster. I'll try to be here on time next time." He beamed at his older brother and smiled before sitting down on the other side of New Hampshire. He placed his beat up back pack between their chairs and slung his arm over William's shoulders.

"How ya doin' pal?"

"Good, I guess." William replied, not really focusing on his older brother. His attention was drawn to the bag Tony had just placed on the floor. He could have sworn he saw it move.

"Tony…what the hell is in the bag?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Look you wanna—

"It moved! There is something in there!"

Tony glanced around the room, ensuring that the rest of his siblings, mainly Delaware, were all preoccupied with something else before he whispered in William's ear. The state's eyes widened and he looked at the carefree man in shock.

"You brought _that _with you?" he hissed.

"Don't freak out. Lil' Devil is totally harmless."

"The Jersey Devil is not harmless! It's killed people."

"Nah, bro. You've got it all wrong. Lil' Devil isn't like the myths at all. Here, look."

He carefully picked up his bag and opened it under the table. A small, grey head of fluff poked its head out. It had undersized horns and a face that vaguely reminded him of a teddy bear. The little creature climbed out of the bag and onto Tony's lap. It had short, stubby legs that ended in black hooves. On its back it sported two miniature wings that didn't look like they would support the chubby animal if it decided to fly. Tony pet it between its horns and the creature leaned into the touch, purring like a cat.

"See? Isn't he cute?"

New Hampshire had to admit, the _thing _was pretty cute. He reached his hand out tentatively and smiled when it began to lick his fingers with a tiny, pink tongue.

"Yea, he is pretty cute. Why is he such a secret?"

"If anyone found out about him he'd be thrown into the zoo or taken away to some scientific lab somewhere. I don't wan that to happen to him!"

Just as William was about to reply the door to the meeting room opened once again. In strode Washington DC, an unrecognizable emotion on her face. Tony ushered the Jersey Devil back into his bag which he put back between their chairs. Casey seated herself at the head of the table and placed her briefcase under her chair. New Hampshire wondered about that action; usually she was unpacking pages and pages of information out of that briefcase before they started. Something was different about this meeting.

"Alright, let's get started." she said, flatly.

"Wait! Daddy isn't here yet! We can't start without him!" exclaimed Massachusetts.

At this, Casey slumped forward onto the table, burying her head in her arms.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about" she murmured, barely audible.

"What do you mean?" demanded Pennsylvania, his usual smile gone and replaced with serious frown.

She sat back up, straightening out her blonde hair. She stared at them all before continuing.

"You remember when I sent out that email a couple weeks ago asking if any of you had seen Dad?"

"Yes, we do." New York said, suspicion filling his voice.

"Well…I still haven't found him. He's been missing for over two weeks now." The last sentence came out as a whisper as tears fought to spill out of her blue eyes.

"What do you mean he's missing?" Delaware asked as his usually lifeless eyes filled with a mixture of anger and fear.

"I mean I haven't seen or hear from him in the past two weeks. He had no trips out of the country planned. I even checked the records of almost all the airports. There were no records of anyone named "Alfred Jones" making any bookings. He also had no appearances that he had to make. And he missed his meeting with Uncle Matt on Tuesday."

"Have you told anyone else about this?" questioned Connecticut, a somber expression on her face.

"No, I felt like the thirteen of you should be the first to know."

Connecticut nodded at this before burying her face in her hands. Massachusetts gripped Delaware's hand, tears threatening to rush down her cheeks. Instead of brushing off the distraught state, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned to Casey.

"Have you checked with Arthur? Before the Revolutionary War Alfred would leave without warning to visit and be gone for weeks at a time."

"I thought it was best if I kept his absence a secret to most of the world. We're incredibly vulnerable without him, as I'm sure you're aware."

"That's true." Delaware agreed.

"He'll be back soon though. There's some kind of understood law between the countries that they never be away from the country they represent for more than a few months at time. They all seem to respect this and would never make Dad stay away for too long." New Jersey said, surprising them all with his sudden statement.

"Tony's right. That's how it's always been. If a personification of a country is away from his or her country for too long they become weak and their country suffers." Pennsylvania added, nodding his head in concurrence.

William considered this. This didn't explain where his father had disappeared to but it did ensure that he would be home within the next month. No one would keep him away unless they wanted to torture both Alfred and the states. New York stood up, voicing William's exact thoughts.

"What if a country wanted to do that though?"

"Don't be foolish, Michael. Dad has many enemies but none that would have been able to convince him to have a meeting with him so they could take him captive." retorted South Carolina.

"I'm not saying he had a meeting with them. What if they kidnapped him?"

"It would be very difficult for one of Dad's enemies to sneak into the country. We have surveillance of the area around our house twenty four seven." offered Casey.

"Then we have to assume whoever took Dad was someone he trusted." Michael said simply.

"Stop! Daddy wasn't taken! He's on v-v-vacation! A secret vacation." stuttered Massachusetts.

"We need to take this seriously, Caroline. It is a definite possibility that Dad was kidnapped. It would make sense that someone he trusted would have done it." Pennsylvania said.

Massachusetts let out a sob and buried her face in Robert's chest. He patted her back, more out of habit than anything else. In his mind he went over all the countries that were on "friendly" terms with his father.

"It could have been England. He never did recover from the Revolutionary War." he mused aloud.

"I doubt it. They've been getting along well lately." Casey said.

"That's the whole point though! He'd want us to dismiss him as a suspect right away." exclaimed New York.

"Look, now's not the time to be jumping to conclusions. As Caroline pointed out, Dad could just be on a little vacation. He's been pretty stressed out lately. Let's just all go home and I'll contact you guys in a few weeks if Dad hasn't shown up."

They all began talking amongst themselves, discussing who they thought was or wasn't responsible. Delaware was talking softly to Massachusetts and leading her toward the door. She was still in tears and had both her hands clenched around Robert's arm. Georgia and South Carolina were consoling North Carolina who was near tears. Pennsylvania, New York, and Rhode Island all wore stoic expressions as they packed up their things and headed toward the door. Maryland and Virginia were whispering to each other from their seats at the table.

Will glanced at Tony, who was now standing, mildly alarmed at the serious expression that had taken up residence on his usually smiling face.

"You and Vermont are staying at my house from now on." Tony said without turning.

"Why?"

"Protection."

"We can handle ourselves, thank you very much!" Will glared at his older brother. Many of the older states assumed he and Vermont couldn't take care of themselves. Both were relatively short but that didn't mean they lacked strength. New Jersey wasn't particularly tall either. Taller than he was but not by that much.

"I don't like the idea of you being up there by yourself."

"Maine will be there! He can take care of us."

"He'd suspect something if the two of you suddenly asked to stay at his house for a while. I don't think Casey wants everyone to know about this yet." Despite his strong accent he still managed to sound in control.

"But won't Vermont be suspicious if you suddenly asked for us to stay at your house?" he countered.

"Just tell Charlotte I want to get you ready for summer the Jersey way." Tony said nonchalantly, as if it was the most logical explanation for his sudden interest in having the two of them stay at his house.

"Fine…but only until Dad gets back."

"Great! Let's go get Vermont!" Tony's grin was back on his face, making it seem like he hadn't been wearing such a serious expression just moments earlier.

"You can play with Lil' Devil and go water skiing and tons of other fun stuff!"

William was only half listening. He was actually relieved to be staying with Tony. Although New Jersey was small in stature he could pack a powerful punch. During the Revolutionary he had been home to many battles and had supported the American troops in whatever way he could. He had been part of the crossing of the Delaware River when American troops attacked the unsuspecting Hessians in the Battle of Trenton. He was certainly battle hardened, even if he didn't show it often.

Of course, William had also played a role in the war. He had been the first state to declare his independence. He hadn't seen as much of the war as some of the other states though, his only battle being a raid on Fort Mary and William in 1774.

As Tony continued to blabber on about the "fun plans" he had, Will tried to wrap his head around everything that was going on. His dad was missing, leaving them all in jeopardy. Delaware was showing his emotional side and New Jersey was acting serious. Something was definitely off. He could only hope that thing would go back to normal before something serious happened.

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**AN: Sorry for grammar mistakes! Hope ya liked. :D **

**Also sorry if I forgot to credit someone, just let me know! I hope it's ok if I changed a few of their personalities a little to fit my story. :P **


	5. Confirmation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Tony "New Jersey" belongs to Not So l33t. **

**Charlotte "Vermont" belongs to beatles-revelution1204. **

**Casey "Washington DC" belongs to RubberChi.**

**Dan "Maine" (mentioned briefly) belongs to Capt. Hasting.  
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Tony stared at his phone, willing the slim object to start ringing. It had been exactly two months since his meeting with Washington DC and the other Thirteen Originals. The meeting had been a shock to all of them, especially Massachusetts. He had seen her around a few times since then and although she was always smiling, it came across a little forced. They were all worried. Robert's usually dull eyes were constantly filled with worry. They were always wondering about Alfred's sudden departure from, apparently, the face of the earth.

Everyday he hoped for a call that he knew wasn't coming. He tried not to be so morbid but he had a bad feeling about the whole situation. Alfred had always been, among many things, unreliable but this took it to a whole other level. He had never just vanished for a few months without some kind of warning beforehand. The times before the Revolutionary War were exceptions considering how long it would take to get to and from England's house. With the technology they had today it would have been easy for him to just send a short text message explaining where he was.

Even worse was the fact that they had tried to track Alfred's phone and it had been found under his pillow. The American loved technology and was not one to up and leave without bringing his beloved blackberry with him. He had been so proud when he'd gotten it. He had wanted to have the same phone as his new president and wouldn't settle for anything less. Upon its arrival he had forced the president to pose with him so they could take a picture together.

Eventually, Tony gave up on his hopes of somehow influencing his own phone to ring and got up to look out the window. He could see Vermont and New Hampshire running around the yard, enjoying the cool water that came from his sprinkler system. Lil' Devil, his partner in crime, chased them as they jumped through the jets of water.

Although they were both rather old states they were still kids at heart. Charlotte had just missed being part of the first thirteen by a year. She was the fourteenth state and was quite mature, appearing to be the age of eighteen, just like Tony. Due to her childhood spent with Canada she was very soft spoken but had picked up their uncle's kind heart as well. William was a little more rambunctious but was, oddly enough, the one to stay quiet at meetings, preferring to observe than object during arguments. Despite being the thirteenth state he only looked about fourteen years old. No one truly understood why they looked the ages they did.

Tony didn't like to admit it but he envied their ability to still be children. He had given up being a child not long after the Revolutionary War had begun and, unlike Massachusetts, had never been able to get his childhood back. That didn't mean he didn't like to get out and have fun; he just liked getting out and having _adult _fun. He knew how to party with the best of them. Being an adult also meant he had different responsibilities; however, he had never been a big fan of responsibilities and would, more often the not, just ignore them.

With Alfred being gone though, he had let maturity take over for once. He was the third oldest state and had to take care of his family. He needed to remain, the strong, carefree older brother he usually was. For the most part he really was care free and laid back but with this new stress it had been harder to maintain that part of his personality. Just like humans, the states weren't immune to stress and it was difficult for all of them to continue acting normally.

Tony was forced out of his thoughts by his phone, which had begun to ring loudly. He checked the caller ID and felt his stomach begin to tie itself in knots.

"Hello?"

"Tony, it's Casey."

"Oh hey Case! How's it goin'" he asked, trying to keep the growing apprehension he was feeling out of his voice.

"I'm not going to mess around here. Dad still hasn't shown up. It's time we began to tell the others."

"Oh. Ok." He swallowed before continuing "It wouldn't hurt to wait a lil' longer. He hasn't been gone for that long." Tony wasn't sure why he wanted to put off announcing Alfred's absence. Something about finally admitting it made it seems so final; like there was no way he was coming back.

"Anthony, he's been gone for almost three months. We can't keep pretending he's on _vacation_. Colorado, New Mexico, California, and Tennessee have all come to me, complaining that they felt 'off'. They all know something is up. We have to let them know."

"Alright…but this doesn't mean he's gone forever! He'll probably show up and all this will have been for nothing."

"I hope you're right, for all of our sakes. You're in charge of letting Maine and Vermont know what's going on. I'll be assigning the others to tell the rest of the states."

"Alright. Let me know if anything happens. Bye!"

Tony hung up with a sigh. By "anything" he had, of course, meant "you better tell me the second Dad shows up". He wasn't about to give up hope, even if it was in vain. He grabbed at his hair, pulling lightly. This was something he always did when he was stressed even though he knew it made his wild hair look even crazier. He dragged his hands down his face and looked out the window once again.

New Hampshire and Vermont were gone, as was Lil' Devil. He rushed toward the back door and threw it open. Anthony looked around his yard, his stress level slowly climbing when he couldn't locate William and Charlotte. It was bad enough that Alfred was missing but now he would have to explain to everyone how he had lost two of the smaller states because of his own carelessness. He looked at the sky and grimaced, the sun was beginning to set meaning it would be getting dark soon. Not only that, but he could also see as storm brewing in the east. If William and Charlotte hadn't been kidnapped (he was sincerely hoping that they hadn't) they would be stuck in a storm at night which could be just as bad. He had to find them, it was his job to look after the pair.

After a few laps around his house, Tony has still hadn't seen either of the states. He brought his hand up to lips and began to chew on his fingernails. This was a habit he had broken long ago but here he was, at it again. A loud clap of thunder caused him to jump as the storm got closer and the sun began to dip behind the horizon. Things had gone from bad to worse in only ten minutes.

Seeing nothing else he could do, he began to walk around his house one more time. They weren't by the shed or in his pride and joy, the garden. When Tony really thought about it, he would have killed them if they were in his garden. He had always had as soft spot for gardening. It helped him take his mind off things. He continued walking, praying he would find them.

"BOO!"

At that sound, the diner capital of the world jumped and turned to look at a now suspicious set of bushes. Out tumbled William and Charlotte, followed closely by Lil' Devil. The two states were laughing as they untangled themselves. Tony glared down at them, a frown clear on his face.

"What the hell were the two of you thinking? Don't do that again!" he yelled. His temper had always been rather short and this joke had set him off.

Vermont looked up at him, concern and puzzlement filling her fine features. Her eyebrows pulled up as she gave him a worried look.

"Sorry, Tony. Will said it would be a funny prank. We won't do it again, I promise." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. His face softened at this. He was always a sucker for a cute face and Vermont was no exception. She looked so sad that he couldn't stay mad.

"Who died and made you "Dad" anyway?" snorted New Hampshire. This question caused his temper to flare up yet again. He recalled the conversation he had less than twenty minutes ago. He had to keep up the happy act for just a little longer.

"Haha, sorry for freaking out there" he said sheepishly, fighting to keep a smile on his face, "I was just worried 'bout ya. There's a storm coming and I don't want you caught up in it at night!"

This seemed to satisfy Charlotte who stood up and offered her hand to William who used it as leverage to stand up. Lil' Devil rubbed against Vermont's leg and she happily pulled him into her arms.

"I'm glad he's warmed up to you. He can be pretty shy around strangers. Why don't the two of ya head inside and dry off. I want to have a quick word with Will."

"Oh, it's alright. I can wait."

"This is confidential. Only for states with "new" in their name." he said with a wink.

Charlotte just rolled her eyes and headed toward the house. After he was sure she was gone, Tony turned back to William. His grin fell from his face and let his mature side take over.

"I was serious. Don't you _ever _do that again. You have no idea how worried I was."

"I don't see what the problem was. It was only a joke. You like those usually."

"Yea well, _usually_ I don't get calls from Casey saying that Dad still hasn't shown up and I have to tell the other states he's really missing."

Worry etched its way onto William's face at these words.

"Y-you're joking. He still hasn't…hasn't shown up?"

"Why would I joke about this? We have to tell Charlotte and Dan. The rest of 'em will be taken care of by the other originals."

New Hampshire only nodded as his eyes filled with tears. The thirteen of them always acted strong but few actually possessed the strength they tried to convey. William was no exception. It was rare that he ever showed his inner most feelings. Only something really troubling would bring him to tears. The last time Tony had seen Will cry was during the Civil War, an event that had scared them all.

He opened his arms and pulled the younger state into a hug. He was never big on displays of affection, preferring to just state his feelings rather than show them. There was just something about seeing his younger siblings in tears that caused him to open up.

Will wrapped his arms around his taller brother and buried his face in his chest. He sobbed into the grey shirt, not caring about how weak he was coming off.

"I d-d-don't want this. I w-w-want Dad to c-come home."

"I know, Will. I know. I want him to come home too." He replied, trying to calm the miserable state. There was nothing he could do for him; being there just wasn't enough. Alfred was missing and he had to stay strong for New Hampshire. For Vermont. For all of them. It was time to say goodbye to his care free personality and embrace the grown-up one he had been so desperately trying to forget. There was no doubt in his mind that Pennsylvania and Delaware would be doing the same thing. The three of them needed to care of their nation.

He guided William toward the door, forcing his familiar smile onto his face.

"Come on. We need to tell Charlotte."

Tony continued to smile, ready to face what was to come.

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**AN: Sorry for the long wait you guys but my life has been a little hectic. I'm not 100% sure about this chapter, mainly because I feel really cheesy when I write dramatic scenes. Plus, I'm not sure if I kept New Jersey in character enough…sigh. **

**Well…let me know what you think, if you want to. **_**I**_** want you to but I can't really control people. It's disappointing really because that would be an awesome power; I'm learning how to deal with that though. :P **


	6. The Beginning

**Author's Notes: Haha, I'm back! And I have great news! I have a beta for this story. Capt. Hasting has kindly offered to improve the quality of these chapters so you can expect a lot of improvement. :D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Tony (New Jersey) belongs to Not So L33t. **

**Charlotte (Vermont) belongs to beatles-revelution1204. **

**Daniel/Dan (Maine) belongs to Capt. Hasting.

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"Are you kidding me? How long have you known this?"

Tony winced as the voice on the other line raised a couple octaves. Maine's usually quiet temper had decided to join their phone conversation and was certainly making the task of telling Dan about their father more difficult than it needed to be.

"Calm down, Dan. I'm not kidding. Two months." Tony said with a sigh. This was not going the way he hoped it would.

"_Two months_? You waited _two months_ to tell me this?"

"Casey made us. The Original Thirteen had to be the first to know…sorry" he finished lamely. There was no easy way to describe the situation. He wished Maine could be as agreeable as Vermont.

It hadn't been easy to tell her but she had handled it better than Maine was. Charlotte had listened quietly, not even asking a question. He got the feeling she had known something was going on.

When he and Will had walked inside, the younger of the two tried to hide his tears and put on a brave face. He hadn't let go of Tony though. It had been a hard thing for New Jersey to see. He wasn't used to being the mature one. Charlotte had noticed right away that something was wrong, despite William's protests that he had tripped outside and that was the reason for him leaning on Tony. He had even tried to smile for his younger sister but it didn't last. He broke down again as soon as Tony began telling Vermont what had happened. It had surprised her to see her tough, older brother showing any weakness.

Now she was consoling him. His sobs had finally reduced down to hiccups and sniffles yet she refused to leave his side. Tony, on the other hand, had immediately gone to deal with the task of telling Maine what was going on. A phone call wasn't his ideal means of communicating the news but he saw no other way of letting Dan know as soon as possible.

"Sorry doesn't fix this Tony! Dad has been missing for two months and I had no idea!"

Daniel had moved on from just being angry to shouting down the phone. William and Charlotte looked up from their spot the couch when they heard his voice. Tony offered them a thumbs up before returning to his conversation.

"Don't be so loud. New Hampshire and Vermont can hear you." he hissed into the receiver. Dan immediately went silent.

"They're still with you?" He asked quietly.

"Yea, and Will isn't taking all this very well."

"What about Charlotte?"

"She seems fine but she might be putting on an act."

"I see... I'll be over tomorrow."

With that he hung up. Tony blew air out his nostrils slowly, trying to find some source of sanity in all the confusion.

He found nothing.

He had no idea how they were going to handle everything. He knew that New Hampshire's breakdown would only be the first of many and that most, if not all of the younger states would be just as troubled as he was by the news of their father's disappearance.

Glancing at the clock on his cellphone, Tony tried to grin and turned to his younger siblings.

"You guys wanna go out for dinner? I have a lotta great diners. After all, I am the diner capital of the world."

Connecticut looked at New Hampshire who offered a small smile and nodded.

"Sure." she said softly.

"Alright! Let's go!"

He grabbed his keys and headed toward the garage. His siblings trailed behind him, clutching each other's hands. Charlotte was smiling and trying to make William laugh by telling him jokes. They weren't particularly funny but they still brought a smile to his face. It was more the effort than anything else that counted; after being upset like that, they all wanted nothing more than to smile over the stupid things again.

Unfortunately she ran out half way through the trip and an uneasy silence fell upon the three of them. Quickly Tony clicked on the car radio but could only find unfittingly cheerful summer songs, taunting and reminding them of just how grim their own lives had could hardly believe it was summer already. It didn't feel like it was. The rain that had begun to fall on windshield didn't help. Perhaps Mother Nature knew something about Alfred's absence that they did not. Finding nothing suitable to listen to, Tony clicked the radio off and the rest of the trip was continued in silence.

Tony pulled into the parking lot at one of his favorite diners. The food was always great and the head waitress had a soft spot for him which meant he usually got a discount. The trio rushed inside and was seated shortly after. Their dinner was eaten with little small talk and they were back in the car in less than forty-five minutes. The drive back paralleled the ride there.

Once they were home they said goodnight quietly and went their separate ways. New Jersey gratefully crawled into bed. The day had felt so much longer than it had actually been. Lil' Devil jumped up onto the bed and snuggled down under the covers next to him. Tony scratched the animal behind the earls absent mindedly. His thoughts were elsewhere.

There was so much they were going to have to worry about now. Casey would eventually have to tell the president about what was going on and there was also the matter of telling all the other states. He was sure the capital had assigned the twelve others to deal with that. He was relieved that he had only had to tell Vermont and Maine about what had happened. That had been hard enough and he didn't think he could handle telling any others.

After all of that had been taken care of it would be time to start searching for Alfred. He was probably (definitely, New Jersey corrected himself) still alive and it was crucial that they found him as soon as possible. Things were going to get wildly out of hand without Alfred around and the sooner he was back, the better. Tony had heard rumors of countries breaking into civil wars when their representation was gone for too long. It had been hundreds of years since anything like this had happened anywhere.

Slowly, Tony slipped away into his dreams. He was running, always running. The terrifying part was when he turned to see what he was running from and was met with his own dark, twisted face.

* * *

Daniel Jones stared at the lump under the covers and glanced at his watch. It was ten o'clock, time for New Jersey to wake up. After finishing his conversation with Tony, Maine had booked himself a flight as soon as he could and had arrived early this morning. He had let himself into Tony's house using the spare key which was stupidly hidden under the door mat (something that Maine always chastised him for.).

It had still been rather early so he sank into a comfortable arm chair and began to read the morning addition of the New York Times waiting for his older siblings to wake up.

About an hour after his arrival New Hampshire had stumbled down the stairs, looking like hell, in Dan's opinion. His normally well groomed hair was all over the place while his blue eyes were puffy and red. William looked so much weaker than Maine ever remembered seeing him.

New Hampshire staggered toward the kitchen, apparently unaware of his brother's presence. Dan decided not to bother him so he continued to read listening to the small state preparing his breakfast until, suddenly, everything went silent. Dan paused and lowered the news paper, he recalled the conversation with Tony from earlier; Will hadn't taken the news very well which caused Maine to be concerned for his brother and only neighbor. Folding the paper Maine stood up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen.

"Will, you alright?" he asked. When no response came Dan rushed into the kitchen and saw William staring down at his hands in fascination.

"What's going on?"

The dumbfounded state looked over at him but didn't really seem to make the connection between the voice he had just heard and the person next to him. His blue eyes were dull and glazed over. He held up his hand and Dan gasped in shock.

"Look." William said quietly. Across his palm was a long, deep gash. Blood poured out of the wound which looked very painful but didn't seem to evoke a reaction in New Hampshire.

"What happened?"

When he didn't answer Dan began to reach forward to examine the cut but stopped when William began to back away from him.

"Let me help you, William. Please." His voice didn't sound as strong as he would have liked. He had always been one of the more mature states but he had a great deal of respect for the states older than him and felt ridiculous trying to tell New Hampshire what to do.

"I want to have breakfast first." he murmured, motioning to a half cut up pear that was taking up residence on a cutting board on the counter. Next to it sat a knife which showed trace amounts of blood.

Dan was still concerned by the blood that covered William's hand and was now rushing down his wrist. The owner of said wrist was staring intently at the blood with a somber expression on his face. He couldn't let this keep going on.

Keeping his eyes on Will, he slowly went over to the sink and turned on the water. Then Dan lunged for his brothers damaged hand and dragged him over to the sink. William let out a yelp and struggled against his brother's hold. Dan only tightened his grip around Will's wrist and forced his hand under the cold water running from the faucet.

The shock of water seemed to knock New Hampshire out of his daze. He blinked and turned to look at Maine. His dreary eyes were now as lively as they had ever been.

"When did you get here, Dan?"

"What are you talking about? Don't you remember?"

"No…what are you doing? W-what happened to my hand? Ow! It hurts! Dan! My hand! What happened?" The shorter state was now near tears and was obviously confused. Maine grimaced and began to wash the cut out with soap. William tried to pull his arm back but Dan wasn't about to let go.

"That stings! Stop!"

"You cut your hand while you were chopping up fruit. I need to clean it out."

William only whimpered as Dan continued to wash the gash. It wouldn't stop bleeding which proved to him that the wound was much deeper than he had originally though.

"Can you move your fingers?"

"A little but it hurts."

With his free hand, Dan opened the cupboard closest to the sink and found all of Tony's medical supplies. He had no idea why his older brother liked to store his medicine in the kitchen rather than the bathroom but he was very grateful for that particular quirk. He got out a long bandage and some gauze.

Dan pulled William's hand from the water and quickly bandaged it up. New Hampshire bit his lip from the pain but managed to keep his hand still.

"Am I going to have to get stitches?" Will asked.

"I doubt it. This is a pretty bad cut but I think it'll be ok now."

"I wonder how I did it."

"I just told you. You were cutting fruit and you must have accidentally sliced open your hand."

"It's weird because this is my writing hand. I would have been holding the knife with this hand."

"Don't you remember anything about what happened?"

"No. Guess the shock must have messed up my memory a little."

Dan frowned but didn't say anything. Shock didn't explain William's behavior earlier. He also considered what he had just been told, if that was his writing hand it would have been really difficult for him to accidentally cut himself.

Dan went over to the sink and hastily washed the blood off the knife before beginning to chop up the pear. As he did he shot a couple of glances at his distressed brother, who watched him intently.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Maine shook himself out of his thoughts and quickly looked to the ground. He hadn't meant to be so obvious.

"Like what?" he asked, trying to force a smile onto his face.

L-like I'm so kind of…freak! What did I do?"

The tears that had been threatening to spill earlier were now rushing down Will's cheeks. Dan wanted to comfort him but couldn't move; he was frozen in place. There was something very wrong about what had just taken place. This wasn't normal behavior for his normally cheerful brother.

"I've told you already. The answer is the same."

He finished cutting up the pear and went back to the sink rinsed off the knife and put it away.

William glared at Dan.

"Don't lie to me!" he demanded, "There's something wrong with me, isn't there?"

"Will? Dan? When did you get here?"

Both boys looked at the doorway to the kitchen. Vermont yawned while rubbing at her eyes. Dan had never been so happy to see the brown haired girl.

"Good morning, Charlotte. I just got in this morning. How are you?"

"I've been better." She smiled sadly before walking into the kitchen. Her pale hand reached out and grabbed a few pear slices off the counter.

"Nice of you to get breakfast ready." Charlotte said as she sat down at the table. Dan hoped that her appearance would stop New Hampshire from questioning him about what had occurred earlier that morning. If he was lucky, William might just forget about the whole thing.

"This isn't over" Will muttered into Dan's ear before stalking out of the kitchen and back upstairs.

Apparently, luck wasn't on his side.

"Where's he going?" inquired Charlotte.

"He just went to get dressed."

"Usually he says good morning though."

"Yeah... He…uh…cut his hand on accident earlier. It was pretty bad. I cleaned it up for him but it was painful so he's not in a good mood."

Dan was surprised at how easy the lie had slipped out. If there was one person he could trust with the details of what had really happened, it was Charlotte. Again, something was stopping him from revealing exactly what had occurred less than fifteen minutes ago.

A quick check of his watch told Dan that it was time he talked to Tony. He politely excused himself and snuck upstairs.

That was where he was now, watching the third oldest state, who had buried himself under layers of covers and was snoring lightly. A tuff of brown hair and a tanned arm were the only parts of Tony that were visible. Dan bent down and prodded the arm roughly. He was tired of waiting around for the lazy state to wake up.

Much to his surprise the arm wrapped itself around his neck and pulled him close. Dan's face was pushed up against Tony's chest. He struggled but couldn't get out of the older state's vice-like hold.

"What the f—"

"Now, now Mrs. Kennedy. I know you're upset but I will make you happy." New Jersey mumbled in his sleep.

Maine stopped trying to fight off Tony and had to bite his lip to stop from laughing. He and the other states had always suspected New Jersey had a little crush on the former first lady and now he could confirm it. That was, if he escaped alive.

"That's better Mrs. Kennedy. I'll look after you."

This was Dan's chance to have a little fun. Despite their rather bleak situation over-all, he had to make the most of an opportunity like this.

"I'm not Mrs. Kennedy." he squeaked out, trying to keep his voice at a higher pitch.

"Then who are you?"

This would be the best part.

"I'm Snooki!"

At that New Jersey released his hold and bolted up in bed, blue eyes wide. He wore a look of pure terror and glanced around his room trying to find the annoying girl. All he saw was Dan rolling around on the floor, laughing so hard that tears ran down his face.

"Dan? Dude! You would not believe the dream I just had!"

The only response he received was more laughter as Dan replayed the scene from earlier over and over again in his mind. Every time he seemed to stop laughing the image of Tony's scared face would pop back into his mind and cause him to start cracking up again.

"Was I sleep talking again?"

"Yes." That one word was all he could choke out. Maine tried to get a hold of himself and eventually managed to reduce his amusement to the occasional snicker.

"Are you gonna tell me what I was talking about?"

Dan snorted and stood up.

"Nope."

"Fine. I don't care. Why are you up here?"

All feelings of delight died off as Dan remembered why he had barged into Tony's room in the first place. He had to tell him about New Hampshire. Tony wasn't known for his mature, serious attitude but Dan was hoping that he would prove himself to be the older brother he really was.

"It's New Hampshire."

"Poor kid. He still crying?"

"No, worse."

Tony's smile, which rarely left his face, evaporated and a grave look replaced it.

"What happened?"

"Something's wrong with him."

"What do you mean?" Something dangerous flashed in the eyes of the older state.

"I mean, something isn't right up…up here." Dan tapped the side of his head.

Tony let out a sigh and flopped back down onto the pillows.

"And so it begins."

* * *

**AN: So I thought I should explain that this is sort of an AU since I had the oil spill being solved in the spring. There was something else that was inconsistent with the real world but I can't remember it right now. Hope you liked it! **


	7. Destination: Los Angeles

**Author's Notes: So, it's really late (as far as time goes...I should go to bed) but I'm posting this anyway because it has been sitting on my computer for a few days (beta-ed and everything) and it's about time I put it up. **

**Everyone let out a "whoop whoop" for Capt. Hasting and his amazing beta-ing powers! XD  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Casey (Washington DC) belongs to RubberChi. **

**California (Ashley) belongs to Chika. **

**Michael (New York) partially belongs to YoriMei (I be stealing some personality traits from his/her awesome OC Crystal [New York]). **

**Marcus (Washington) belongs to the Deadly Brothers of Doom. **

**Northern California = Andrew (for this story there are indeed two Californias)**

**Oregon = Jacob **

**Hawaii = unnamed (any ideas?) **

**Alaska = Ethan  


* * *

**"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" the red head across from Washington DC asked.

"You heard me Michael, I want you to tell the Pacific States that Dad is missing."

New York glared at the stone faced blonde before him. Who did Washington DC think she was anyway? Ordering him to tell the other states that Alfred was MIA. It wasn't his job, plus she could do it herself. Or not at all, for all he cared. They would probably be better off not knowing anyway.

When he really thought about it though, he'd want to know if something like this was going on. He had only just found out that Alfred was still missing but he was trying to hide his shock. It was really disturbing to know that his scatterbrained father still hadn't shown up; however, that didn't mean it was his job to tell the younger states.

"No way. Not my job. Find someone else." he said, turning his nose up.

"Stop being a drama queen."

"I am not a drama queen!" Michael exclaimed, his voice raising a couple of octaves**.**

"Says the guy with a Broadway addiction."

"You wouldn't understand!"

"You're right, I wouldn't but we're getting off topic. You are telling them because I said so and I am the Capital. Plus you need to start acting your age."

"You need to start acting your age." Michael mimicked in a nasal voice.

Casey rolled her eyes. "The younger states look up to you Mike and they need you to tell them."

"Why me? Why not send...Massachusetts or something?"

"Caroline has other things to worry about. Now look, you're one of the best known out of all of us and you command a lot of authority, whether you think so or not. They'll listen to you. Plus, it _is_ your job as one of the oldest states."

"Fine…I'll do it. Who do I have to tell again?"

"The Pacific States, you know, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington."

New York groaned and buried his face in his hands. Why did it have to be them? He could probably handle four out of the five states.

California, on the other, hand was a whole other problem.

It was the only state that had been given two representations instead of one (unless you counted the Dakota Twins, which he did.).

Northern California wasn't so bad, it was his younger sister, Southern California, that really pissed Michael off. Ashley was almost your typical dumb blonde. She wasn't particularly intelligent, enjoyed tanning more than the average person should, and she would spew celebrity gossip whenever she had the chance. She also liked to brag to New York about the "wonders" of Hollywood. They would argue constantly over which was better, Broadway or Hollywood. It was not an activity Michael liked to engage in, mainly because Ashley's arguments never really made sense and because the normally pleasant Northern California would back her up.

Andrew was a good kid; smart, well read and, as an added bonus, wasn't Southern California. Anyone who wasn't Southern California was good in New York's book. Pennsylvania constantly teased him, saying the only reason he didn't like Ashley was because he was jealous of her. That was just stupid. How could he, the most famous state, be jealous of someone like California? New York was a great state, he had awesome baseball teams, dashing good looks, and the city with the highest population in the country. In addition, the ladies loved him (How could they not? Just looking at himself gave him butterflies).

"Don't complain." Washington DC's voice snapped New York out of his thoughts. "You need to start getting along with Ashley, now is not the time for the two of you to be fighting."

Michael sighed, "Yes, mother."

"I told the Pacific States they have a meeting with you at six o'clock this evening in Los Angeles."

"Well, it's not like I can make it." He tried to keep his tone even but on the inside Michael was jumping for joy. There was no way he could get to Los Angeles by this evening nor could he catch a flight on such short notice.

"You're not going to get out of this that easily. I've booked you a flight. It leaves in a little over an hour."

"WHAT? What if I said I couldn't make it because I have…plans?"

"You don't have "plans". I checked your schedule." Casey smirked as she pulled out Mike's smart phone from her pocket.

"How did you—give that back!" New York demanded, snatching his phone from her hands.

Washington DC smiled. "Now then, you'd better hurry if you want to get to your plane on time."

"I hate you."

"I know. Have fun!" Casey offered him his plane ticket as she pushed him out the meeting room door. If he had known in advance how their meeting was going to go he would have skipped it entirely. What was the point in him telling the Pacific States? Ashley would call him a liar and start another argument and the rest of them probably wouldn't believe him either. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to tell them all "true stories" about the horrors of his sewers. It had been funny to get them believing his tall tales in the pastbut now it was coming back to bite him the ass.

Michael glanced at the plane ticket in his hand. His flight was at 2:45 pm. It was 1:30 pm now which meant he had to get going or he was going to miss the flight. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing but it would really annoy Casey, something he didn't feel like doing right now. The arrival time was expected to be 5:16 pm, according to the ticket. That was really cutting it close considering he had to meet the others at six.

Once he was outside, Michael got to work hailing a taxi. He glanced at the inconspicuous building he had just left. Although they were arguably some of the most important people in America, he and Casey hadn't had their meeting in a very fancy place like the meeting room in Alfred's house. It was obvious that Casey wanted to keep everything on the down low and New York could respect that. It would be chaos if anyone found out about anything that was going on, especially the president.

They would have to tell him soon but Casey was probably waiting until all the states had been told first. Once they did tell the president, there wouldn't be much he could do except try and hold things down until they found Alfred. One wrong move and the whole country could be turned upside down. With Alfred gone they would all be more prone to fighting so it would be a strain for all of them to try and remain peaceful towards one and other.

Washington DC had warned him of this earlier in their meeting and it scared him a little. Sure, they got into arguments all the time but they were never serious arguments that affected anything. Casey had explained that if would be like functioning on a bad night's sleep; their tempers would be short, their emotions would be harder to handle, and they would all feel a little tired.

Personally, Michael didn't think that was so bad compared to how his dad would probably be feeling. He remembered at their earlier meeting with the Thirteen Originals, New Jersey and Pennsylvania had explained how Alfred would be in a considerable amount of pain if he was separated from his country for too long. It was likely that he was just beginning to feel it, just as the states would being to feel their own symptoms.

Now that he thought about it that was probably why it was so crucial that he told the Pacific States now, any later and arguments much worse than those of their pasts would start and they would have a lot more problems on their hands. By catching it early he could explain to the Pacific States without upsetting them too much.

"You gonna get in or what, buddy? I'm not gonna wait around forever."

Michael blinked and stared at the yellow car on the road next to. He had forgotten that he had been trying to get a taxi. He climbed into the back.

"Sorry. Dulles International."

"Aww, how nice. Goin' on a trip? Where to?" the cabbie asked without turning around.

"Los Angeles." He replied with a frown. It always unnerved him when cabbies tried to make conversation. He didn't dislike them but they always made awkward small talk and there was no point to those kinds of conversations.

"The Golden Coast. Got a sweetheart out west?" In the review mirror Michael could swear he saw the grizzled man wink. He snorted.

"More like a pain in the neck."

"Things not goin' good for the lovebirds?"

"I'm visiting family actually."

"Ah yeah, family can be pain. I should know I'm Italian." The cabbie chuckled at his joke butMichael had stopped listening as the man droned on about his doubtlessly boring family.

With a family like his, everyone else's just seemed dull in comparison. He swore half his siblings suffered from some type of psychological disorder and the other half were probably on drugs. It was a bit of an exaggeration but sometimes, that's what it felt like.

He spent the rest of the taxi ride in deep thought while the cab driver continued on with his grievances. Michael was still sure that Alfred had been kidnapped and that it was by someone he knew well and trusted. This was exactly the type of mystery he loved to solve, he just wished the person who had been kidnapped was some normal person instead of his father. This was one puzzle he _had _to solve.

So far the only person he had well and truly ruled out as a suspect was Canada, and that was based on what he knew about his uncle. The quiet nation to the north was not the type to be kidnapping people, especially not his brother. It was obvious that Alfred got on Matthews nerves a majority of the time but the two were on good terms for the most part. They had meetings twice a month to discuss a variety of issues. From what Michael had heard, lately they had been discussing the difficult economic situation as well as the war in the Middle East.

That had always been a tough subject for New York. He would never forget the day those men from the Middle East had attacked him. It had been one of the most painful experiences of his life.

They would never have his forgiveness.

Virginia and Pennsylvania could relate but they had begun to move on, much like Alfred had. For whatever reason, Michael couldn't let it go. The scars would always be there. For months after, he and the people of New York had been stuck in a dreary, gray world. They were all scared. Why them? What had they done? What if it happened again? That last question was one Michael asked himself everyday. What if it _did _happen again? Security had certainly improved since 2001 but there were no promises that something like that wouldn't occur once more.

He liked to think that the attacks hadn't changed him too much but that was just a lie he told himself. September 11, 2001 had changed him forever. Suddenly, the planes flying over head weren't just planes, they were enemies. Michael tried not to let it show but he had become paranoid. Everyone could be a threat. The growing crime rate in many of his cities hadn't helped his pessimistic view. The streets weren't safe and there seemed to be nothing he could do.

"Here we are. Dulles International."

New York shook himself out of his thoughts and pushed a wad of bills into the cab driver's outstretched hand. As he walked into the large airport he tried to keep calm. He hadn't been good with airports or airplanes since the attacks on the Twin Towers. Over the past few years he had defeated his debilitating fear of airplanes to the point where he could fly regularly without worrying about panic and anxiety attacks. That didn't mean that he enjoyed this mode of transportation but he was able to do what he needed to, even if it meant getting inside one of the flying death traps.

Michael couldn't help but feel awkward by his lack of luggage as he moved through the busy building toward the security check point. This was the one part of the airport he actually liked; it was the part that made sure something like 9/11 never happened to anyone else.

He would gladly wait in line for ten minutes just so he could remove his jacket, shoes, and other miscellaneous items from his person to be scanned. He would walk through the metal detectors with joy and even stick around to let them pat him down so everyone could be certain there was no way he could put other passengers in danger. He could continue on with his journey toward the terminal with a sense of ease in knowing that every passenger was put through the same process.

After he had made it through security and thanked as many airport personnel as he could for their efforts in keeping the airport safe, he made his way toward the gate where his flight would be boarding. It took a little cardiovascular effort on his part but Michael was able to catch his plane in the nick of time. He settled into the economy class seat (not his ideal seating arrangement but it would have to suffice). When the plane finally reached it's cruising altitude Michael allowed his mind wander to pleasant places far away from the cramped aircraft he would be spending the next several hours on.

It was then that a baby began to cry.

* * *

**Los Angeles, CA.**

It was 6:15 pm and New York was late.

Alaska grimaced at his watch, it wasn't like New York to be late. Michael was always a city boy, occasionally a drama queen, and often a troublemaker but he was never late. Ethan sincerely hoped he wasn't having flight trouble. Michael didn't think anyone noticed his anxiety over flying but Ethan had seen it in the few times the older state had come to visit him for meetings. He hoped he would arrive soon or else the meeting room he was currently in would probably go crazy.

Accompanying him were his siblings who were also classified as Pacific States. They all sat at a round table with only one empty spot reserved for New York. On his left was Washington, who considered himself to be one of Ethan's closest friends. Marcus and he were relatively close but Ethan wouldn't classify them as best friends. He couldn't shake the sensation of feeling on the outside when it came to interacting with the continental states.

By most definitions, Ethan and Hawaii were still young, new states. Both of them had only been given statehood about half a century ago and, consequently, found it difficult to make their way into an already established family. The pair would always stick together when it came to family functions.

Hawaii sat on his right, next to Southern California. The Aloha state was currently trying to prove that his beaches were superior to the iconic "Golden Coast". Neither of the Californias took this well and were ganging up on him to demolish the idea Hawaii had in his mind.

From what Ethan could tell there was no reason for California to have two different representations. It wasn't that big of a state (by his standards) and had never been two states in the past yet, somehow, California was made up of the twins Andrew and Ashley. There was only one other set of twins in the US and they were the Dakotas who had gained statehood on the same day during the same year.

When it came to looks alone, the duo was a polar opposite from Alaska. Where the twins had blonde hair and blue eyes, Ethan had black hair and lavender eyes (a trait from Russia that he hated). Ashley and Andrew were obviously of European decent while Ethan could easily trace his features back to the Inuit and native people of his land.

New York's empty chair was next to Andrew. Oregon sat in the chair nearest to Washington. He was only sates that stood a chance of imposing order if the argument going on next to Ethan escalated. Unfortunately, the brunet was absorbed in a stack of documents he had brought with him and probably wouldn't be of much use. Everyone knew that once Oregon got reading it was near impossible to pull him out of the world of words.

Washington was testing this theory by balancing various objects on their brother's head. Marc could be a bit of a firebrand but he wasn't the worst. There were many states that easily outdid him in the category of "most annoying". So far he had managed to get a pen, an apple core, and someone's shoe to stay nestled in Oregon's hair. Marc nudged Ethan with a giggle and pointed to the comical sight. Suddenly Jacob tilted his head slightly forward causing everything on his head to fall into his lap.

"Ok, whose dumb idea was this?" he demanded, gesturing to the assortment of objects resting on his knees. The room went quiet. He fixed a piercing gaze on each of the states before letting his eyes rest on Washington.

"Don't give me that look. It wasn't me." Marc exclaimed. Ethan wished his brother could see how horrible a liar he was.

"Are you suggesting it was Ethan then?"

Alaska's eyes widened and he attempted to defend himselfbut his terrible stutter imposed his ability. "It w-w-wasn't, it wasn't me." His plea went unnoticed as Washington found someone else to blame.

"Uh…no. It was, uh, Andrew!" Washington pointed dramatically at Northern California

"Was not, you big liar! Just ask, Hawaii. Ashley and I have been discussing the merits of our beaches with him."

"More like bragging about your beaches." the Polynesian state muttered.

"Like, what was that?" asked Ashley.

"Nothing. Nothing. Anyone know when Mike is gonna show up? He's almost half an hour late."

Jacob looked at his watch with a frown. Clearly Ethan wasn't the only one concerned for New York's whereabouts.

"That's weird. He's never late."

"I know! Mikey is totally a—" Ashley was interrupted by a loud commotion going on outside the meeting room. The door swung open and New York strode while murmuring about "damn flying death machines" and "unhelpful Californians". His face looked drained which only offset the shocking mop of red hair atop his head.

The Pacific States watched in silence as New York sat down in his designated seat and began to pour himself a glass of water from the provided pitcher. When he downed his third glass he smiled.

"Hello everyone."

The Pacific States greeted him in unison.

"So, Mikey what the big deal?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah Mike what's going on?"

"Why did D.C. Want us to meet up with you?"

Suddenly the room was filled with voices inquiring about the mysterious goings on. New York tried to quite everyone down so that he could explain but it didn't help in the least. Finally he lost his temper.

"If everyone could just SHUT UP, I'll explain!"

* * *

**AN: Hope you enjoyed that. Let me know what you think (if you feel so inclined, and I hope you do) in the reviews. :) **


	8. Noticing

**Author's Notes: And now for something completely different, as far as the subjects of chapters go. **

**Chapter was beta-ed by Capt. Hasting. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia.

* * *

**

Lithuania glanced around nervously as Russia paced around the small room. He wasn't sure why he had been called to Ivan's study but, from the looks of things, it couldn't be good. The tall country wore a troubled expression as he wore a path in the carpet. His eyebrows were furrowed as if he was in deep thought.

"Mr…Mr. Russia? Is everything alright?"

Ivan stopped pacing and glimpsed over at Lithuania as if he was just noticing the Baltic nation's presence. The serious expression on his face faltered momentarily before he began to continue walking around the room.

"Amerika keeps missing our meetings**...**which isn't very good**.**"

Now this was something Lithuania wasn't expecting. As far as he could tell, Ivan and Alfred weren't on particularly good terms. It was odd that Russia was even remotely worried about the "idiot hero".

"Really? That's odd."

" да, It is troublesome."

"I'm sure he'll show up at the next one." Lithuania was on familiar terms with Alfred since he had lived with him in the early 1900's and knew that the proud man was never one to purposely miss a meeting, even if he disliked the country he was meeting with.

"I do not think so. I have rescheduled our meeting three times already**.** His capital tells me Alfred will be there this time but he never shows."

"Maybe he's sick. The economy isn't doing to well over there."

"Possibly. The economy isn't good anywhere," He paused, then shook his head.

"нет, Amerika should not avoid meetings because he is feeling the same economic pressure we all are." Ivan's frown deepened at this statement and he finally sat down at his desk.

"I'm sorry Mr. Russia. I-I didn't m-mean to—"

"It is fine." Although the easy going nature of Ivan's voice agreed with this statement, the hollow look in his eyes did not.

Toris began to fiddle with the buttons on his shirt sleeve. He had momentarily forgotten about the dire state of Russia's economy. It was proving to be a tough year for everyone; however, Ivan seemed to be getting the worst of it. He had been dealing with raging wildfires for quite some time and the, last Lithuania had heard, America had sent a specialist team from the U.S. Forest Disaster Assistance Support Program to help him cope. Alfred had a habit of helping in any situation, regardless of who it was he needed to help. Many countries thought Alfred was just being nosy but Toris was sure that the self-proclaimed hero legitimately wanted to help, more out of the goodness of his heart than anything else.

"I need to meet him. We have important issues to discuss." Ivan pulled out a bottle of vodka and two glasses from his liquor cabinet and placed them on the desk.

"Well, the UN meeting is in a couple of weeks. Perhaps you'd be able to speak with him there?"

"We shall see," said Russia filling the two glasses to the rim. He then handed one to Toris and took the other into his own hand. "But for now let's drink to Alfred's _safe_ return from wherever he may have gone."

Little did they realize, two countries to the west were having a similar conversation.

* * *

"I'm telling you Francis, the git hasn't contacted me in over two months."

Francis studied the angry man who sat next to him on the couch. England had come to his house for a discussion of some foreign policy or other, it didn't really matter to the Frenchman, who would much rather ignore England and day dream about beautiful women. He took a sip from his wine glass and wrapped an arm around the shorter country's waste.

"Do not worry, mon cher. You can always talk to me." He smiled innocently as the man next to him went rigid.

"Hands off frog."

"You wound me, Angleterre," France said in mock distress, "I am only trying to help. And what better way is there to help than by showing les merveilles de l'amour?"

Arthur glowered at Francis, pulled back his arm, and proceeded in allowing his fist to make contact with the smiling face that was all too close to his own for his liking. The wine glass fell from its precarious position in France's hand and onto the floor. A large stain began to bloom on the plush rug as the contents of the glass seeped into the fabric. Next to Arthur, Francis had both his hands over his injured nose.

"Angleterre! My nose! Je pense que c'est cassé!"

Arthur turned away from Francis and tilted his head upward with a snort. That would teach the Frenchy a thing or two about getting touchy-feely with him again.

Francis lowered his hands and stared at Arthur. Although he looked composed, it was obvious that he was concerned about America. Even though there was no reason for him to be, as far as France knew everything was fine. At least that's how it seemed when he talked to the states he used to own before the Louisiana to them, everything was just how it had always been; the northeastern states were still leading fast paced lives, those that hailed from the south were enjoying the lazy days of summer while the western states took the warm weather as an opportunity to boost their adrenaline levels. Yes, everything did appear to be normal.

Yet, if there was one thing Francis understood it was this: when it came to the states, nothing was ever as it appeared. They were astounding actors, all of them seemed to possess the ability to mask their feelings and hide their doubts when around the countries. It surely came from the pressure of representing one of the most powerful nations in the world, weakness was not an option. Of course, there was also their past. All countries suffered from the horrors of battle and many had experienced the cruelty of war at a young age, much like the sates had.

During the American Revolution Francis had been ecstatic when Alfred declared his independence from Arthur's empire, he had willingly assisted the young nation in any way he could. While He never declared war on England (however much he had wanted to) seeing and assisting the young "New World" take on the famous British Empire had been more then enough. Although the one thing he regretted most was seeing the states, some looking no older than ten or eleven, fighting against an enemy so much larger than themselves. To France there was something terribly wrong about children fighting a war.

When he really thought about it, Francis supposed they were all actors in some way. No country had a past unmarred by the terrors of war.

"I do not see what you are so concerned about. You do not like Amérique."

"I…well…I am merely concerned for the well being of everyone. We can not afford to have America acting irresponsible in times like these."

Francis could only nod, things had not been easy as of late. The economic situation was something out a nightmare and the relationships between countries were becoming strained once again. It was not something he was unaccustomed to, many times in the past France had tested his alliances with fellow countries, almost to the point of breaking them completely. There was never any one explanation as to why things went sour between countries but one could always feel it coming.

"Say, France? Have you felt it?"

"I do not understand what you mean by 'it'."

"There is no use pretending you haven't noticed. The world is on the brink of something and I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing."

Hearing that made Francis really feel his age. He and England had been around for many centuries but he rarely felt that old. With age, came wisdom and knowledge. Both of them were aware of what could only be described as a "shift" in the ambiance of the world. It was the feeling that made them feel uneasy but they tried to ignore it. Well, rather, France tried to ignore it, he couldn't speak for Arthur.

"You are imaging things again." He decided that if he just pretended he felt nothing then perhaps nothing would happen. The world had been relatively peaceful for the past years and that was something he was not willing to give up in a rush. There were still wars going on but they weren't like the conflicts of centuries past.

"Fine. Believe what you want but this isn't a good sign. Whether you agree with me or not, Alfred has still been out of contact with me for over two months."

"As I said earlier, I do not see this as a problem."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't but I do. Alfred always bothers me, via telephone, email, letter, etc. and I find it hard to believe he would just stop out of the blue like this. Something must be wrong."

"He is probably just too preoccupied."

"Some of the countries have mentioned Alfred missing meetings with them. Does that seem normal to you?"

At this, France had to frown. It was true that Alfred was less than dependable but he seemed to break that trend when it came to meetings. He did not treat them like a joke or a chance to socialize like many of the countries did. He would use every opportunity to share his "awesome ideas" that, if based on the American's enthusiasm alone, would have solved all of the world's problems decades ago.

"He is a busy man. You know what they say, he is the last superpower."

"You're really eager to drop this, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I have known you for many years and I never thought I'd hear the day you suggested America might actually be the last superpower. Times have truly changed." Arthur smirked.

"You have nothing to worry about. Amérique will be at the UN meeting, non?"

"He will be if he knows what's good for him."

"Then you can speak to him then. Since that is resolved, we should do something fun, mon cher!"

"Our definitions of what consists of "fun" differ greatly, frog."

"Fine, fine. We'll have lunch in the city. My treat." France was glad the conversation's direction had changed, he was not in the mood to discuss the depressing condition of the world right now nor was he interested in discussing why America had suddenly decided to stop making contact with the outside world.

"I am not interested in eating your food. You people have no idea how to cook."

Francis snorted as he grabbed Arthur's hand and dragged him out the door.

"You are one to talk. Now, onto the la beauté de Paris!"

Arthur let out a sigh as he realized he could not win in this situation. He followed behind Francis and let his mind wander. There would be time to worry about Alfred later.

* * *

**AN: So…anyone figured out who the bad guy is yet (not that this chapter is a good indication)? Russia seems to be a popular guess. Unfortunately for all y'all I'm not gonna tell you if you're right or wrong. Your guesses keep me entertained though. ;) **

**Also, I have (good?) news for those of you who know who Mr. Kyle Jones is. I'm currently writing out a chapter that has been graced with his…**_**interesting**_**…personality. If you don't really know who I'm talking about, you will soon. ;) **

**Translations: **

**да : ****Yes**

**нет : ****No**

**merveilles de l'amour : wonders/marvels of love **

**Je pense que c'est ca****ssé : I think it's broken. **

**la beauté de Paris : the beauty of Paris. **


	9. Rain

**Author's Notes: What's this? _Another _chapter? Why yes, it is another chapter! And who was it beta-ed by? It could only be Capt. Hasting! You guys owe him a lot, the first time I wrote this chapter it was terrible. I made Alabama (that's right, he's in this chapter) really creepy and depressed. Never study psych disorders and write ANYTHING. Ever. The results are always scary. Fortunately, that chapter didn't make it very far and now you have a not creepy chapter to enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Casey (DC) belongs to RubberChi.**

**Damien (Louisiana) belongs to Arashikun.**

**Connie (Tennessee) belongs to Ms. Informed.**

**Kasey Jo (Kentucky) belongs to Ms. Informed. **

**Robert = Delaware **

**Jeremiah = Alabama **

**Mississippi = Emma

* * *

**After New York's departure the meeting room felt quite empty. Casey let out a deflated sigh and slumped back into her chair. This was all far too stressful for her to handle on her own. She thought the Original Colonies would have been more helpful but New York had proved her wrong. It had taken an arm and a leg to get him to finally agree to tell the Pacific states what was going on. She was the capital, it shouldn't have been so difficult for her to convince one state to do as she asked.

It was nice to be able to cross another group off the list. It was unfortunate that there were still several more sets of states that needed to be informed of Alfred's absence. The only other state she'd managed to get a hold of and convince to help out was Virginia. The next state on her call list was Delaware. Casey was sure she could rely on the serious state to comply with her wishes. She pulled out her brief case from under her chair and removed her cell phone. A few clicks on the keypad later, she had the phone pressed against her ear, the familiar dial tone greeted her.

"Hello? Robert Jones speaking."

"Hey, this is Casey."

"Oh, hello Casey. I assume you have information to tell me regarding the whereabouts of Alfred."

It was exactly like Robert to skip the formalities and get right to the point of a conversation. He was all about facts and knowing exactly what was going on.

"Yes, I do."

Their conversation was brief, with little commentary from Robert as Casey explained the grim situation they had been presented with. He had agreed without hesitation to tell some of the Southern states about what was going on. Much like she had with New York, Casey had already organized a meeting for Delaware. Luckily for Robert, the meeting was a lot closer to home than it had been for New York. It would be in his capital, Dover. She had already explained to the East South Central states (as they were called by the US Census Bureau) that they need to be at Robert's house by three o'clock that afternoon. They would be arriving soon.

* * *

**Dover, Delaware.**

Alabama rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as Robert stared at him with his cold, green eyes. He hadn't meant to be late to their meeting.

"Jeremiah, I am sure you are aware of my feelings on the subject of punctuality. I do not tolerate late arrivals. This will not happen again, do you understand?"

"Yes sir." he mumbled.

It was like being at some grade school, he was the rowdy kid who had been late and was trying to sneak back into class. That wasn't what had happened. He wasn't the bad kid.

Jeremiah hadn't meant to take an afternoon nap and miss his flight. And he hadn't meant for his newly rescheduled flight to be delayed. He hadn't meant to forget his coat on the plane and not realize until he was walking out the front door of the airport. Naturally, he had gone back to get it but it had taken half an hour of security checks to get back to the plane and then another ten minutes of questioning about why he had to return in the first place.

He was sure it would have gone a lot faster if the airport security hadn't assumed he was some kind of redneck punk. It was all because of his aggravating southern drawl. It seemed to make any law enforcement personnel outside of the south immediately labeled him as the type of kid who might grab their gun and shoot everyone within a thirty foot radius while laughing like a maniac.

Mississippi offered him a sympathetic smile as he shuffled over to the empty seat next to her. As soon as he was sitting, Emma quickly turned her attention back to Robert who was at the head of the table. Across from Jeremiah were Kentucky and Tennessee. The two girls had always been good friends and it was no surprise to him that they had sat together.

Jeremiah wished his closest friend was here. Although he shared a border with Mississippi and Tennessee, they weren't his best friends. Louisiana had been his best friend since before he could remember. They did almost everything together.

Unfortunately for him, all the states had been organized into geographic divisions so meetings would be less crowded. For most of the states this was a good thing, they got to spend even more time with their already close neighbors. Alabama thanked his lucky stars he was in a group with Mississippi, one of his oldest friends, but he still wished Louisiana could be with them as well. Emma tended to be a little on the girly side for him sometimes but he still enjoyed her company. It helped that Mississippi was also friends with Louisiana, the three of them would try to get together at least once a week.

Jeremiah was a little more cautious around Kentucky, who he still wasn't sure if he could trust completely. During the Civil War she had announced neutrality early on but also seemed to offer some support to the South. For a while, he and the other Confederate states had believed Kasey Jo and even put a star on their flag to represent her. They later found out that she supported the Union, though many of his siblings still considered her a Confederate State. Alabama didn't take kindly to liars and had a somewhat strained relationship with Kentucky.

Still, he valued the relationships he had established with the Southern States over the years and sincerely hoped he could improve his relationship with Kasey Jo. When he had tried to explain this dilemma to Louisiana, his older brother had told him to just "start being friendly". That was easy for him to say, Damien could get along with everyone without thinking twice. Jeremiah had to plan out what he was going to say if he wanted to start a good conversation with someone he wasn't very close with. It's not that he was worried about how he would come off (he honestly couldn't care less about what people thought), he just wanted to ensure that he wouldn't run out of things to say. He wasn't an overly friendly state so sometimes he had to put in a little extra effort when it came to social situations.

"Psst. Pay attention or Rob's gonna get pissed." a voice whispered in his ear. He looked up and was met by Mississippi's scowling face. She gestured to where Robert was talking at the front of the table.

"Is something wrong back there, Emma and Jeremiah?"

Emma shot him a dirty look before responding to Robert.

"Course not. Jerry-boy here was just spacin' out a little."

Some help she was turning out to be. He didn't need to explain himself to Delaware. That guy needed to be knocked down a few notches in his opinion.

"Well, lucky for you Jeremiah, I haven't started the important part of this meeting. Please refrain from 'spacing out' in the future."

"Yes sir." he said quietly. What he had really wanted to say was something along the lines of "Fuck off, you pompous jack ass" but his manners had won this battle. Maybe next time he'd give Robert a piece of his mind.

Delaware was a strong and demanding state who almost all of his younger siblings looked up to. He was the first, the oldest, the most mature; he knew everything there was to know about being a state and all that other crap new states had gushed about Robert when they had first been granted statehood. They had all admired his cool calmness, even in the most difficult of situations. It was impossible to know what was going on behind those sharp eyes. The only states who never seemed to feel Robert's superiority were Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They would do whatever they liked, regardless of whether Delaware was around.

Even Jeremiah had looked up to Robert at one point. Eventually he and most of the other states had learned that Delaware was a play-by-the-rules kind of guy who never liked to relax and have fun. It had gotten to the point where he started resembling a machine more than a person, which made Alabama very uneasy. He was still admired by many but Alabama didn't think he was the amazing older brother he had once been.

"Alabama," Delaware snapped, "pay attention. This is important."

Jeremiah's brown eyes locked onto Robert's green ones. He was sick of Delaware's self-inflated attitude, it was time to show "Pennsylvania's armpit" (a nickname Delaware hated with passion.) what was what. He held his defiant stare with Robert until the shorter state's face was red with anger. Alabama let his gaze falter with a smirk and began to play with is shaggy blonde hair.

"Jeremiah." Delaware seethed out between gritted teeth.

"Rob." He winked and offered the irritated state an innocent grin.

A vein throbbed on Delaware's forehead. He looked like he was trying to calm himself down though. Jeremiah gave himself a mental pat on the back, it took a lot to make Robert show any emotion. He noted sadly that the usual angry spark was lacking from the chilly green eyes meaning he hadn't completely accomplished his goal.

"No more interruptions."

"Yes sir." When he had said those two words for the third time in the last fifteen minutes they were filled with sarcasm. He even lifted his hand in a mock salute which earned him a snicker from Kentucky. Robert didn't notice for he had begun his lecture once again.

"Alright. I'm sure all of you got the email a couple of month ago from Casey asking if you had seen Alfred." He looked around the room expectantly and received a couple of nods and a yes. Jeremiah did nothing, the meeting had suddenly gotten a lot more interesting.

"Casey has not seen Alfred since the day before she sent that email. He has been missing for two and a half months. It is vital that you remain calm. Chaos in a time like this is the last thing we need. There is nothing I can do for you but suggest you all try your best to act normal. We will be trying to locate him in the next few weeks."

Kentucky stood up and slammed her fists onto the table.

"How long have y'all known 'bout this?"

"For two months."

Jeremiah's mouth hung open in disbelief. His father had been missing for two months and it wasn't until now that the stuck-up state decided to tell them? They were just as important as he was, they should have been told at the same time. He was beyond mad, he was furious.

"Who the hell do y'all think you are? We shoulda been told right away." Jeremiah sneered.

"Only the first thirteen states were told prior to this meeting. Casey asked us to keep quiet. If Alfred didn't show up within the next few months it would be our duty to tell the rest of you about what was going on. I'm sorry you had to wait."

"I highly doubt that." Tennessee shot back.

Delaware glared at her, "What is that suppose to mean?"

"You know full well what I mean. You Yankees think you're so much more important then us. Just 'cause y'all won the war of Northern Aggression doesn't me—

"Look here, you little runt!" Delaware exploded, "That war of _Southern _Rebellion has nothing to do with this! It wasn't my decision to keep it a secret!"

Alabama leaned forward in his seat, this meeting was finally getting interesting and he didn't want to miss a thing. Unfortunately just when it looked like Tennessee was going to give Delaware a well deserved wallop Mississippi quickly jumped up to distill the argument.

"Connie, calm yourself! This is not the time to open up old feuds, alright?"

She glared at Tennessee who began to say something but had changed her mind and sat down.

"Thank you Emma-" Delaware began.

"And you need to stop acting like a teacher and start acting like family. We're kin and we need to stick together until this problem gets fixed. That means we treat each other with respect."

She looked over all the glum faces in the room, pausing at Alabama to make sure he got the point. He did, there was no doubt about that. In fact he was quite impressed with the way she handled herself. There was no way he would have been able to tell Robert off without using a few choice words that really weren't considered "family friendly."

Delaware licked his lower lip and cleared his throat, "Emma, you're right...I-I was acting like a teacher and I'm sorry."

Jeremiah's eyebrows shot up his forehead, it wasn't often he got to see Robert apologize for stuff he did. Actually he couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Rob apologize.

"Can we go now?" Tennessee asked.

"Yes...uh…feel free to contact Casey if you have any questions."

Jeremiah stood up and quietly left the room. He followed the hallway to the front door and escaped out onto the street. The weather had taken a turn for the worst. The dribble of rain he had felt while walking into the building had turned into a downpour and now his simple t-shirt and shorts were plastered to his skin. His sopping hair allowed water to easily drip into his brown eyes.

After a quick glance around Jeremiah realized he was alone on the streets. He wasn't surprised. In his opinion northerners were a bunch of wimps when it came to weather. They couldn't even handle a little rain. He smirked at the thought of them having to deal with hurricanes every year like he did.

Since it was the middle of summer the rain was warm. Alabama bent down and pulled off his beat up tennis shoes. He was often ridiculed for wearing them everywhere but they were one of the few pairs of shoes he owned. He only wore them if he absolutely had to. He didn't like having his feet covered. He started off down the street, enjoying the way the pavement felt against his calloused feet. Shoes were overrated.

After a good ten minutes of walking he reached an awning and ducked under it. He pulled out his phone and started to dial the only phone number he had ever bothered to memorize. It took a few tries but he finally managed to steady his slippery hands enough to punch the correct numbers into the phone. The phone on the other end started ringing. Jeremiah tapped his bare feet impatiently.

"Hello?"

"Damien. Where are you?"

"What do you mean where am I? Where are you?"

"I'm—well, I was—at Delaware's house." The resentment in his voice was painfully clear.

"Are you ok, Jer? You ain't soundin' too good."

"Billy Yank was just being an ass." he replied, using the old Civil War slang name for the Union soldiers.

"Was he tellin' y'all about Dad?"

"Yea .Who told you?"

Virginia told me, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. We had a meeting at Texas's house."

"You back home?"

"Yea, why?"

"Can I come stay with you for a lil' while?" Jeremiah was surprised when the words spilled out of his mouth. He hadn't meant to actually ask Damien if he could go to his house but he had been considering it. For safety measures, of course.

"No problem. You got a flight booked?"

"Damn it, no. I forgot to get a return ticket."

"Well, aren'tcha at Robby's place? How ya gonna get to my house if you're all the way up there?"

"I dunno. Walk, I guess."

"You gotta be kiddin' me. You can't just walk to my place from Delaware's. You need to book a flight. Can ya handle that?"

Jeremiah stayed silent. He probably could book a fight if he had to but he didn't want to. His phone wasn't one those fancy one where you could go on the internet and make travel plans which meant he'd probably have to call the airport and talk to someone about getting a ticket. He really wasn't interested in speaking to the airport people after his annoying experience earlier.

"Look, I'll ask Casey to pull some strings and getcha a flight booked. What are you up to anyway?"

"Walking in the rain."

"Why the hell are you doing that?"

" 'Cause I can. I like the way the rain feels on my feet."

"You take off your shoes again? Buy some new ones while you're up there."

"But I already have a pair of sneakers and some sandals."

He heard Louisiana sigh into the phone. This happened a lot when Alabama said something that made perfect sense to himself but ended up making no sense to Damien. His brother was very fashion conscious and could never understand why Jeremiah only owned the bare necessities when it came to clothing.

"I can't win with you. I'll text ya the details of your flight after I've talked to Casey. Catch up with you later."

"Ok. Bye."

He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. He sat down and leaned against the wall of the building the awning was attached to. The rain continued to beat down on the pavement but it could no longer hit him. Jeremiah lifted up his leg and examined the bottom of his feet. They were black, which didn't surprise him. The only problem with walking in the streets was the dirt. The best place to go walking was in his back yard. He had a couple acres of land that he'd built his small house on. He'd left the rest to go uncultivated and would often go exploring through his own personal wilderness.

It wasn't long before his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. Casey had booked him a flight at the Delaware Airpark which wasn't too far away. His flight was in a couple hours, leaving him plenty of time to get there. His destination was Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital. Damien said he would meet Jeremiah there when his flight landed.

The drenched state started off in the direction of the airport. Life in the US was about to change drastically.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for the reviews guys! They make my day. :D **

**I have to admit, I really wanted to have Alabama (or one of the other Southern states) say "gosh dang it" at some point but I resisted the urge. If you don't get it, imagine someone with a southern accent saying "gosh dang it". I say it all the time (and apparently, I have a southern drawl...I can never hear it though). My stepdad (a New Yorker) says it makes me sound like a uneducated hillbilly. Which is just great. So yea, none of that for the southern states. They're not uneducated hillbillies!  
**


	10. The Mountains

**Author's Notes: It's finally here! Kyle Jones in da hizzz houze (I am not "gangsta" if you can't tell)! So prepare yourselves. **

**As per usual, Capt. Hasting beta-ed this chapter wonderfully. He also provided Nevada's and Utah's names. If you can figure out their irony/historical jokes, I'll be impressed (not because I think you're stupid but because I'm easily impressed). **

**Alexander/Alejandro (Arizona)**** 99.9% belongs to HippieVampire. ****I think I changed his looks a little. **

**New Mexico (José) mostly belongs to Rayne Marie. I changed his looks and name but the personality is all hers (hopefully that's ok…). **

**Wyoming (Riley) belongs to Snow Wolfie. **

**Colorado = Kyle **

**Utah = Christina **

**Nevada = Phineas Barnum**

**Montana = Mason**

**Idaho = Hailey **

**Pennsylvania = Christopher

* * *

**

_Beep. Beep. Beep_

The muffled serenade of an alarm clock filled the room as the sun began to rise. Light filtered in through the half closed blinds, illuminating five sleeping forms. They were spread out between the two large beds and a frumpy couch dotted with stains of the past. The room was still aside from the persistent clock trying to fulfill its duty.

A blonde haired boy stirred from his awkward position on the floor, his feet resting on the largest bed as the rest of him slipped down the side. His blue eyes opened and he looked around in confusion before allowing his eyes to slide shut once again. He believed the clock was only part of a dream, one that would explain his odd view point.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

The clock was unrelenting and a few moments later the blues eyes popped back open. Hand clumsy with the paralysis of sleep dug through layers of blankets in a blind search for the source of their annoyance. Finally the accursed object was found and his fingers danced over the buttons until the noise stopped. Wyoming let out a sigh of relief as his eyes traveled around the room to see if anyone else had woken up.

From his spot on the floor he could see the outline of Arizona as he sat up in the other bed. He shivered and pulled the sheets up over his bare arms. The room was much too cool for the summer. He glared at the bed Wyoming's feet were on as he tightened the sheets around him. It wasn't difficult for Riley to figure out who was sleeping on the bed.

It had to be Colorado. The snow loving state longed for the harsh days of winter and would adjust the temperature of his room accordingly.

Arizona had moved on from glowering and was now shaking someone next to him. New Mexico sat up, his brown eyes wide. Arizona snickered, earning him a punch in the shoulder from New Mexico. He opened his mouth to protest but was shushed. Neither wanted to be responsible for awakening the beast that was Kyle "Colorado" Jones.

A few feet away a brown haired girl was sprawled out on the old couch, her green eyes just beginning to open. Utah stretched as she sat up and made no attempt to cover her yawning mouth. She blinked tiredly then cocked her head to the side and raised her left eyebrow as she took in Riley's position. He smiled and offered Christina a small wave which she returned before flopping back down onto the couch.

He looked down at the clock still in his hands and groaned. It was 6:30am, far too early to be awake. There was good reason for their premature rousing. Washington DC had sent the mountain states an email explaining the meeting they were to have with Pennsylvania at Montana's house. He and the Four Corners had agreed to stay at Colorado's house and then leave for the airport together the next morning. They would meet Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Nevada at Montana's house. Unfortunately, they had stayed in one of Kyle's mountain homes and had a long drive ahead of them.

They had spent their night yelling at the TV and playing truth or dare. Colorado had been oddly calm, enough so to revoke ownership of his remote and allow the others to choose the channel. The game of truth or dare had been eventful, as truth or dare often is. It had promptly ended after Colorado had dared Arizona to eat a plateful of Rocky Mountain Oysters and the younger state had rushed to the bathroom almost in tears. Wyoming couldn't blame him, Kyle's "delicacy" was not what most people would consider food. After Alexander's sudden departure Colorado had grabbed the plate for himself and licked it clean.

A soft snore came from the only state still asleep. Riley slid his feet off the bed and stood up, sure enough Colorado was spread out over the large bed. Obviously he had pushed Wyoming over the edge sometime during the night. Although, why he needed so much room for himself on what was probably a king size bed Wyoming would never understand. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease out the stiffness that had settled in over the night spent partially on the floor. He padded out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

Ten minutes later he reemerged, blonde hair dripping wet. He had thrown on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt he had found in what he hoped was Colorado's clean laundry basket**. **Looking over the occupants of the room he saw that Arizona had changed into a dress shirt and black slacks (always the professional one). New Mexico was still in his pajamas, while Utah had pulled on a pair of jeans and simple shirt. The three were crowded around Kyle's bed and appeared to be contemplating how to go about waking their slumbering brother.

"He needs to wake up now or we're going to be late." Arizona argued while keeping his voice at a whisper.

"Well then why don't you do it then?" asked New Mexico not wanting to have to deal with Colorado's wrath. Arizona stared at the figure under the blankets and shook his head.

"Isn't there a saying about leaving sleeping bears alone or something?" asked Utah.

"I thought it was dogs, not bears." said New Mexico with a big smile. His statement earned him a whack across the back of his head courtesy of Arizona.

"Oww," hissed José, "what was that for?"

"Because you're an idiot. The saying is "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Kind of applies to you."

Riley stopped listening, this was taking too long and there wasn't enough time for them to draw straws**. ** Riley bent down and picked up the cordless clock from its spot amongst the blankets. As he stepped around his nervously whispering siblings he set the alarm on the clock. Quickly, he turned up the volume and launched it at Colorado's sleeping form. It hit him right in the stomach. The brunet let out a growl and his dark brown eyes popped open. Riley had already started walking away from what would only become a crime scene as Kyle woke up.

"What the fuck? Who threw this at me?"

Time to start the countdown. _10…9…8_

"Damn it you guys! Which one of you did this?"

_7…6…5…4_

"You've really pissed me off."

_3… _

"I bet it was you, Arizona!"

The accused state looked around with wide eyes. He attempted to point in Riley's direction but Colorado wasn't paying attention.

"You need to respect your elders. Hooligan."

_2…_

"I'm not fucking around. Which one of y—

_And 1…_

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! **

"Holy shit!"

The loud noise startled Kyle and he toppled heels over head off the bead in a wave of blankets. The look on his face was priceless. Riley tried to hold in his laughter but it bubbled up and he fell to his knees. He beat the floor with his fist and tried to catch his breath. Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico exchanged awkward glances, unsure of whether it was safe for them to laugh at Colorado's misfortune. They were still close enough for Kyle to tackle them if he felt the need.

"Riley, you asshole!"

Wyoming could only continue to laugh. It didn't really matter what Colorado did to him now, it had been worth it. Kyle was notorious for his pranks and it seemed like he was immune to the revenge many sought on him. It was a small victory but a victory nonetheless.

Kyle lunged toward Riley, pinning him to the ground. Despite all this he still couldn't stop his laughter. Making Colorado mad was always hilarious.

"Stop laughing, damn it!"

"I can't!"

"I'm the oldest here! You have to fucking do what I say!" The first part of that statement was true, Colorado was the oldest by about fourteen years; however, based solely on behavior, he could have been the youngest. Few of the states actually saw him as an older brother. Not even Alaska, who seemed to have undying respect for everyone, looked up to Kyle. Riley managed to control his laughter before responding.

"Don't tell me what to do." Like most of his siblings, he didn't like being ordered around, especially not by someone like Kyle. He and Colorado were equals, neither was on a higher playing field than the other in Wyoming's opinion.

"Fine. I need a Red Bull anyway." Colorado stood up and ambled toward the door.

"Hell no. I'm not gonna be stuck in a car with you for who knows how long after you've had a red bull." declared Utah, stopping Kyle in his tracks.

"Course you wouldn't 'cause I'll be having more then one." he snickered

"Not on my watch you won't."

"Too bad they're in my refrigerator!" Colorado bolted out the door with Utah hot on his heels, leaving Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona still in the room.

"Hey Alejandro—" began New Mexico.

"What have I told you? It's Alexander now, not Alejandro. Got it?"

"Oh right sorry, Anyway, I think I should try a red bull."

Alex rolled his eyes and steered the older state toward the door.

"You don't want to, trust me. Just look at Kyle."

As the two left the room Riley walked over to the mirror near Colorado's dresser. He pushed his damp blonde hair around before finally giving up and letting it do whatever if felt like. He ran his fingers over the mirror, wishing he could show some of his native history like several of his siblings. Even though many of the coastal states shared his fair European features but he always envied the states that lay between the extremes. They had held onto the features of their native peoples while the others had let them slip from their fingers.

Even Riley was guilty of letting go. He had been fascinated by European trappers and traders who had settled into his land, eagerly he adopted their customs and ideologies. He was desperate for a larger population, desperate to be noticed.

Always the subject of a small populace, he had been willing to do anything. There had bloody clashes between the natives and the new settlers. Still young, he negotiated treaties to try and keep the peace but the demand for passage through his land had eventually resulted in broken promises and massacres unlike any he had seen in the past.

Every state shared a past similar to his. Some had been older but they had all gone through it. He was just glad his hadn't been involved in some of the larger wars.

"Hey, Wind Tunnel." Colorado called out, snapping Wyoming out of his thoughts, "Arizona says you gotta get your A into G."

Kyle strolled into the room wearing clean clothes and holding an energy drink in one hand. Apparently he had won his fight with Utah over whether he could have the caffeinated drink or not.

"My what into what?"

"Your ass into gear. Duh. What you lookin' at anyway?" Kyle joined him at the mirror and peered at it in interest through his glasses.

"I'm looking pretty damn sexy today." Kyle offered his reflection a confident smile. Riley looked at his brother's appearance with suspicion.

"Did you even bother to do anything with your hair today?"

"No. It's already perfect."

"It's a mess. You look like that sparkly guy...what's his name...from the movie..."

"Dude, do not! I'm way more awesome." He tugged at his fly away brown hair and continued to smile. Colorado was never lacking in confidence.

Wyoming only maintained his somber gaze at their reflections. He watched as Kyle's face contorted in confusion.

"Why the long face, dude?"

"Just remembering the past."

"That's stupid." The line came out between gritted teeth. Colorado had seen his fair share of conflicts and never liked to talk about them.

Suddenly the intense look vanished from Colorado's face and he broke into a smile.

"Now let's go or Arizona's gonna pop a cap in both of our asses."

Kyle grabbed Riley's wrist and dragged him out of the room. He wondered what went on behind those dark eyes when Colorado recalled the past and decided it was better not to know.

* * *

Montana chewed on his lip nervously and glanced around the meeting room. Everyone was here except Nevada. Usually this wouldn't worry Mason but it had been his responsibility to make sure all the Mountain States were at his house for the meeting with Pennsylvania and he wasn't going to let Nevada mess it up.

Nevada, who never went by his full name, Phineas Barnum Jones, had a habit of never really arriving on time, no matter how important the occasion may be. His name had earned him the nickname **"**PB&J**"** which, at first, he had hated. Now, it was all anyone every called him by. He was also an infamous party animal who spent more time with Southern California than anyone else. The two would go out every night to "live it up".

The southwestern states had all arrived together along with Wyoming. They were currently taking up residence on his worn couch. New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona were all comparing tans while Colorado and Wyoming poured over one of his hunting magazines.

Pennsylvania was frowning as he read through some documents in a nearby armchair. Idaho sat next to Montana and patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile. Hailey had was one of his closest friends, always remaining positive when he couldn't. Her long black hair was pulled into a low ponytail, with only a few stray hairs falling into her hazel eyes. Her skin was tanned, much like Montana's. That was as far as their similarities went. Mason had disheveled brown hair that never stayed in place and clear green eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be here soon." Hailey was the only state he had told about his excitement over having a meeting at his house. He wasn't usually a popular state like New York or Texas and had been overjoyed when Washington DC had told him he was to host a meeting at his house.

"You better hope so." Pennsylvania retorted without looking up from his documents. "I don't want to wait around forever."

"We could just start now." Utah suggested.

"No, we can't. I need everyone to be here."

Ten minutes passed before the door burst open and Nevada barged in. His dirty blonde hair and rumpled clothes were spotted with what appeared to be glitter and he was wearing mismatched shoes.

"Finally. Phineas, where the hell have you been?" Pennsylvania inquired.

"Well…there was this party, you see and I sorta…well…I mean…" he trailed off.

"On second thought, I don't want to know. Just sit down, I have something important to tell you."

Nevada sat down next to Utah and turned his attention to Christopher. The southwestern states gave up their respective activities and were now sitting forward in interest.

"Ok then, I'm sure you—ow. I'm sure you got the— ow. Kyle, stop firing rubber bands at me and pay attention! I'm not in the mood for your shit today."

Colorado giggled but stopped his entertaining joke.

"As I was saying, I'm sure you all got that email from Casey asking about Dad. Truth is, no one has seen him since that email. It's been a little over two months since Dad went missing. It's important that you knew what was going on but don't worry, we'll find him. After all, we're all pretty heroic."

Silence hung in the room after Pennsylvania finished his short speech. Mason looked at Idaho and wrapped an arm around her shoulders when he saw her teary eyes. Nevada was unmoving, a curiously somber look on his face. Across from him Utah was biting her lip in an attempt to keep back her tears.

New Mexico and Arizona wore similarly shocked looks as they stared at nothing in particular. What surprised him the most was the lost look on Colorado's face as Wyoming gripped his wrist.

"Guys, I said don't worry. Things look bad now but we'll fix this. Everything is going to be ok." Chris tried to assure them but concern was evident on his face.

"How long have you known about this?" Arizona's voice cracked slightly as he asked his question.

"Since the very beginning. Casey wanted only the first thirteen states to know. She didn't want to worry you guys."

"I see."

"Do you…have any questions?"

No one said anything and Christopher let out a sigh. Pennsylvania looked at the glum faces but didn't see anything he didn't expect, a few more minutes of silence passed until Christopher began to get his papers together.

"You're all free to go. If you need to talk you can call me or Casey. Try and stay positive guys."

With that Pennsylvania stood up from his arm chair and left the room. Slowly everyone aside from Idaho filed out of the room, all going back to their homes. They reminded Mason of zombies.

"Are you ok?" he asked Hailey.

"I'll be alright. It's just a little stressful, you know?" She was still staying positive, just as he expected.

Mason nodded, unsure of what this new disclosure would lead to.

* * *

Wyoming's hands were turning white on the rented car's steering wheel. Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada had all called a cab and headed to the airport while Riley had decided to use the rented car to drive home with Colorado. Next to him Kyle was staring forward, he had remained mute since they had left Montana's house. There had been no need for either of them to agree to go to Wyoming's house, it was had been a silent and mutual decision.

Riley glanced over at Kyle in concern. Not many states knew Kyle quite like he did. Thus, few realized just how attached the obnoxious sate was to their father. Colorado adored Alfred. He looked up to his father with shining admiration and always brought up being the Centennial State, a namesake he had earned from attaining statehood one hundred years after Alfred had become a country.

Any way he could make himself seem more similar to Alfred he would take advantage of. He would spend almost the whole summer at their father's house and frequently visit during the winter months. This new revelation explained why Casey had forced Kyle to return home early after Alfred had left on a "business trip".

Unfortunately, that wasn't what concerned Riley the most. Kyle, in spite of his arrogant and confident attitude, was afraid to be separated from his father for long periods of time. The past month had been hard for him, even if he didn't let it show around the other states. When it had just been the two of them, it was obvious. Kyle would fidget and have trouble staying calm. It had resulted in Wyoming forcing his brother to go hiking or rock climbing with him just to get the antsy state's mind off the stress.

Now he was presented with a difficult situation, to say the least. Kyle would have been fine if he had been able to see Alfred for a few days but that wasn't an option anymore.

Wyoming pulled over to the side of the road and placed a hand on Colorado's shoulder, causing the older state to flinch.

"What?"

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Of course I am." The defiant tone didn't match the soft volume of Kyle's voice.

Riley didn't believe it but started the car once again. They'd make it through this, they had to.

* * *

**AN: So you guys are pretty much amazing. Your reviews are really nice and funny. :D THANK YOU SO MUCH! And thanks for favoriting/alerting. I'll be trying to respond to everyone's reviews a little more consistently from now on…unless you don't want me to. Which is cool…I guess…it doesn't make me cry or anything. No siree. **

**Happy Labor Day! It's been a long weekend but a good one. Actually, it's been natural disaster central. Earthquake in Christchurch, Hurricane Earl, and now a raging wildfire in good ole' Colorado. Hopefully everyone survived the weekend. XP **

**Also, I plan on doing a chapter like this for all fifty states. There's a few more groups to get through and then every state will know what's going on. I'm sorry if it's a little on the boring side, I just really want to introduce all the states and their personalities. After we get through all this the real story starts. :D Prepare yourselves!  
**


	11. More Revelations

**Author's Notes: FINALLY! A chapter! I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to update, my life is just insane. **

**This chapter was beta-ed by Capt. Hasting. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. **

**Washington DC "Casey" belongs to RubberChi.  
**

**North Carolina "Savannah" belongs to ****elektraeriseros.**

**Florida "Rachel" belongs to XxToxicDeathXx.**

**Georgia "Darcy" belongs to Kendall N.S. **

**Maryland = Madison**

**Virginia = Jackson/Jack (I started off naming him Andrew but that's N. California's name so I had to change it. Sorry if I didn't correct it every time…I think I did though.)**

**Delaware = Robert **

**S. Carolina = ?

* * *

**

Maryland fiddled with her auburn hair as she glanced around the meeting room. Seven other states, all considered South Atlantic states, were seated around the table. On her right was Virginia, who was hunched over some new piece of technology. His dark hair hung loose around his face making it difficult for Madison to see his expression. She could easily picture it though, Jack always wore the most serious expression when he was working on one of his "great inventions."

Next to Virginia were Delaware and Georgia. Robert had his arms crossed and seemed to be glaring at everyone (he never was fond of being considered a southern state especially after the Civil War) while Georgia was trying to split up a fight between North and South Carolina. The two had never really gotten along although their relationship had certainly improved since the colonial period.

To Maryland's left was West Virginia, one of the only states at the meeting that didn't know what was going on. Currently the fair haired girl was glowering at Virginia. Unlike the tension between the Carolinas, West Virginia and Virginia's relationship still remained rocky.

At the very end of the table was Florida, the only other state that didn't know about what was going on with their father. Maryland half expected Southern California to spill the beans to her but she had obviously kept her mouth shut, an event that occurred less often than a solar eclipse. Especially considering that despite their constant commercial wars and bets over who could get the most tourists, the two girls were very close. The last Madison had heard, Ashley was trying to convince Rachel to dye her long, black hair platinum blonde.

Maryland was drawn out of her observations when Virginia grabbed her shoulder.

"Maddie, I think I've got it figured out!"

Madison looked at the odd object in Jack's hands.

"What is that?"

The younger state rolled his eyes.

"It's going to help with finding you-know-who, duh."

"Who have you lost now, Jack?" asked West Virginia with a smirk.

"No one, Abigail."

"Then who is you-know-who?"

Maryland's eyes darted around as she tried to think up an excuse. Maybe it would just be best to tell Abigail and Rachel now. It wasn't an easy way to break the news but they were going to find out in the next few minutes anyway. Before she could think up a good answer Jack gave his own.

"Voldemort of course. Who else would it be?"

Abigail let out a sigh and muttered something under her breath along the lines of "idiot confederate." To which his reply was a small smile and a nod of his head**.**

"Lookie here, if I just move this wire here and then connect this one with the green one then they should—

BOOF!

A puff of smoke erupted from the charred gadget and into Jack's ecstatic face. "Now that, was awesome!" He turned to Madison expectantly and frowned when he saw the shocked expression on her face.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me that scared you. It was so cool!"

"Jackson, I think it's time you stopped playing with your little toys." Robert said coldly**,** seemingly unshaken by the smoking device in Andrew's hands.

"They're not toys, they're inventions."

"Right...Well, why don't you wipe the soot from your face so that we can get down to business?" Delaware then turned his gaze to Maryland, "Madison would you like to do that honors?"

All eyes turned to the state in question. She hated having all the attention on her. She was content being the small, background player of the family. This meeting had been a big step for her since she usually preferred to listen rather than tell everyone what was going on. Public speaking wasn't really her strong suit. However, Casey had been desperate for help and Madison felt obliged to assist the overworked capital in any way she could, even if it meant doing things far outside her comfort range.

She cleared her throat and looked around, she seemed to have everyone's attention, aside from Florida who was messing around with her phone.

"Umm, Rachel? I'm going to start the meeting now?"

The girl continued to lean back in her seat while giggling at something on her phone. Her chair balanced precariously on two legs.

"Rachel?" Nothing.

West Virginia grabbed the back of Florida's chair and pushed it backwards gently. Everyone watched as Florida's brown eyes widened and she let out a shriek, followed by the audible bang as the chair hit the ground.

"What the hell? Abby, that was totally uncalled for!" A now pale Rachel complained as she stood up from the floor, her voice cracking.

"Maybe if you had been paying attention I wouldn't have had to do it. Madison wants to start the meeting."

Rachel looked at Maryland, "Oh… Sorry Madison."

"Uh, it's ok. I think I'll start now, alright?"

Once Florida was sitting in her chair Maryland began her little speech.

"S-so, I know we all got the email from Casey about Dad. He's still missing. No one has seen him for almost three months. Umm…we don't know what's going on."

Rachel and Abigail looked around incredulously. No one else in the room seemed shocked by the news. West Virginia and Florida were the only states in their "group" that weren't one of the thirteen original colonies and, consequently, were the only ones who hadn't already been told about what was going on.

"Haha, funny joke Maryland," Florida said with a smile, "but if they aren't buying it, neither am I."

"I'm not joking."

West Virginia scowled. "I know you older states think it's amusing to mess with us younger states but this isn't funny."

Her statement was met with silence. Madison wished this was only a joke and that they could start laughing about how gullible the two had been. She knew the others were wishing the same thing. Even Delaware, who had no trouble with speaking, was remaining silent.

"Guys, cut out the crap. I'm leaving."

Abigail began to gather her coat and bag. Just as she was about to reach the door Virginia stood up, frustration was evident on his face as he watched his little sister turn to look at him.

"What now?" She asked with a sneer.

His voice came out low and even, more serious than Madison had heard it in since the attacks on the Pentagon. "Dad is missing. It's time you got over this vendetta you have against everyone older than you and start listening to us. Especially now. We have to be able to work together and if you're going to be immature we're only going to have more problems."

Abigail opened her mouth to say something but was hushed by the serious look on everyone's faces. She walked back to her seat and sat down.

"So this is for real then?" Florida's voice was quiet as she asked her question.

"Yes."

No one spoke as Virginia confirmed their situation. It was final now.

Alfred F. Jones was missing.

* * *

"Rise and shine!"

Alfred flinched, they were back. They always came back. How many days had it been? Two? Three? He could never remember, the days were threaded together, impossibly seamless. He could never tell how long it had been since he was kidnapped.

Alfred forced his eyes open and was met with the same two faces that greeted him everyday. And everyday it never ceased to amaze him that it was _them_. Two faces he was sure were his allies, his friends. Yet, here they were, grinning down at him, enjoying his pain. Their motives were a mystery to him and they had yet to explain why they had captured him.

"Time to get up Al." The taller one giggled as the other offered Alfred a hand, knowing full well that he couldn't grab it. He pulled at his restraints but they were as strong as ever.

"Having trouble there?" The other one mocked.

He glared at them. They knew as much as he did that he wouldn't be able to grab that hand. In the beginning he had been hopeful. Perhaps one day he would have been able to pull free and then the two would have more trouble on their hands than they could have ever imagined. But the days had gone by and he was still stuck.

Then there was the pain.

It had been subtle at first, just a dull ache deep in his muscles, something he could ignore. He willed himself to believe it was only stiffness from sitting in the same position day in and day out. Eventually, he accepted it though. The pain increased with every passing day, moving from a dull ache to an excruciating throb. Every beat of his heart spread a vile poison through his body, it wrapped its fingers around his muscles and bones, seemingly crushing everything. The pain was always with him spending the long nights whispering in his ears and the days taunting him with sparse moments of peace.

He never gave up though. He would pull at the restraints until he passed out if that's what it came to.

"Not going to put much of a fight today, hmmm?" They both smirked at him. They knew exactly what he was going through, he had tried to hide it and pretend that he was fine but they weren't dumb. They saw right through it.

He was going to put up a fight today, like he always did. Alfred gritted his teeth and began to strain against the metal around his wrists, he ignored the pain which had started to scream at him. He was America, he was the hero. Heroes never give up. He knew that this attempt would get him but that didn't stop him from trying, today could be his lucky day.

"Looks like he's having trouble there." The taller one turned to his shorter counterpart wearing a mock look of concern.

"Poor little Al. Do you want some help?"

It was becoming too much for him, he was getting nowhere. Alfred let his muscles relax and stared up at the ceiling. He had to ignore them, maybe they would go away. He shut his eyes and tried to slow his breathing.

"You're a lot less interesting as a prisoner than I would have thought."

Even with his eyes shut Alfred knew who had said it, their voice was so familiar, it hurt. He fought back the urge to say something. Let them be disappointed, it meant he had won this one. A small smirk found its way onto his face.

A hand grabbed his chin and roughly jerked it up, slamming his head against the wall behind him. Stars danced in front of his eyes as he blinked and tried to focus.

"Don't get cocky, Jones." The shorter one said, his eyes narrowing.

The other man rested a hand on his partner's shoulder and smiled softly, "Easy there. I like a little defiance in my prisoners. Keeps things interesting." His small smile stretched into an over-enthusiastic grin as he fixed his gaze on Alfred.

Alfred tried not to squirm. He'd never had a problem with those eyes until now. They were, dark, corrupt. He had never seen them like that before and it shocked him. He would never admit it but they scared him, those eyes. They always seemed so happy and carefree. But now, now they were warped and angry, observing and seeing all but never changing. There was something lost in those eyes.

A sudden breath of air next to his ear caused him to jump. The man was right next to him, a cruel smirk on his face.

"Do I make you uncomfortable, Alfred?" he whispered, his harsh eyes locked with Alfred's. "Maybe, after all this," He grabbed Alfred's hair and pulled him closer. "you'll understand how I felt everyday." he growled.

The man pushed him away causing Alfred to turn his face from the voice, not wanting to see what had become of someone he thought he knew so well. When had that smiling face become so twisted? He was angry at himself for not noticing, not seeing what was going on around him.

Again, a gloved hand grabbed his chin but, instead of the forceful blow from earlier, turned his face gently back in toward the man. The eerie smile on his face was back and his eyes were closed, almost making him seem normal again.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, it's impolite not to." The haunted eyes opened, causing Alfred to shiver. There was something not right about them but he kept his gaze steady, unwilling to show anything but indifference and strength.

"Much better. Well, I'd best be going. Wouldn't want to miss that world meeting, now would I?" The man laughed and ruffled Alfred's hair. "I'll make sure to visit you as soon as I get back, though." He assured Alfred.

With that, the two men exited the room, leaving Alfred alone with his thoughts. He had suspected the world meeting would be coming up soon. He couldn't help wondering what would happen when he never showed. Would the world worry? Or would they just assume he was his normal scatterbrained self? Surely one of them would wonder or care about where he was. He'd missed a lot of meetings lately, it would be unusual if they didn't suspect something.

Knowing his states though, they had probably come up with some cover up to explain his absences. Consequently, they had probably planned something for the world meeting as well that would stop any questions from being asked about what happened to him for the past months. Or was it weeks?

He desperately wanted to ask about how much time had passed but he knew better, they would never tell him what he wanted to know. That was why it was so important that he remained unresponsive to anything they said to him. He had to make them think he didn't care, that he wasn't interested in what they had to say. He may not have always acted very bright but he knew what to do in difficult situations. It didn't matter if you were smart, only that you knew and could outsmart your enemies.

And Alfred knew both his "enemies" well.

He looked to the corner of the room where a camera had once been installed. He used to stare at it and wonder if they were staring back, watching his every move. After he had started to get weaker they had removed the camera, obviously unconcerned about whether he could break his restraints or not.

That was their first wrong move.

As soon as the camera was gone Alfred had set to work trying to break his restraints. It hadn't taken long for him to realize that the strong alloy they claimed held his arms against the wall wasn't welded as it should have been. There was a small, fine crack running through the restraint that held back his left arm, proof that a hasty and careless job had been done during the welding process. Unfortunately for them, this crack was located on a weaker, thinner part of the restraint.

Whoever had made these shackles had either assumed he wouldn't be strong enough to cause any damage to the crack or hadn't noticed it. He himself wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been one of the only things he could look at in the bare room. Everyday since the camera had been removed he had focused on weakening the restraint and increasing the crack. It was a slow and painful process but slowly, the crack had grown in size.

He had been sure not to draw any attention to the weakening joint when the men were around and, when he did struggle against the restraints, to put more stress on the stronger right one than the left one. So far, they seemed not to notice. He still tried desperately to break his restraints when they were around but now he had secret weapon, something that could lead to his eventual freedom.

He just had to keep trying.

* * *

**AN: So there you are. I'm sorry I haven't been responding to reviews. I haven't been able to find the time which makes me feel really lame. Thank you so much for reviewing, all y'all are amazing. :D I'm glad you've been enjoying this little story thus far. **


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